MbVES
REAL-LDFE CDWDERELLA
Hollywood combed two
continents before selecting a
17-year-old Iowa girl to play
Saint Joan, the theater's
most exacting role.
f lU
8.V
BY PEER J. OPPENHEIMER
4 very actress whether she's a teen-age am
ateur in Iowa or an international star in Paris
has her dreams, and generally they're about por
traying the most dynamic woman in history or
drama, Joan of Arc.
That amateur in Iowa, however, is usually con
tent if she wins a high-school speech contest by
reciting excerpts from Maxwell Anderson's "Joan
of Lorraine." What more can an inexperienced
schoolgirl expect? Certainly not greater triumphs in
a role portrayed by Katharine Cornell, Sybil Thorn
dike, Geraldine Farrar, Julie Harris, and Ingrid
Bergman, to name a few.
So the young girl settles back to a quiet, small
town life with its regular run of dates and duties, and
after high school enters the State University of Iowa.
Oh, she hears about the big Hollywood search for a
new young Saint Joan. It even sets off dreams again.
But she pushes them back in her mind.
"It's just a Hollywood publicity stunt," she says.
"They'll end up casting a box-office star or at
least somebody with Broadway training."
Out in Hollywood, a lot of the wise guys agree
with the inexperienced kid from the corn country.
It's true that producer - director Otto Preminger's
search for a fresh Saint Joan is a publicity stunt
worth far more than the $150,000 it costs.
But wise guys and small-town girl are wrong about
one thing. Preminger is serious about the end re
sult of his contest; like playwright George Bernard
Shaw, whose "Saint Joan" he is bringing to the
screen, Preminger believes the make-believe Maid
of' Orleans should be about as young and unknown as
Joan herself was.
And among the millions of entries in his talent
hunt is one describing that teen-age Iowa girl. It
has been submitted by a friend and neighbor who
doesn't realize the tremendous odds or understand
that sometimes Hollywood 'ioesn't mean what it says.
His efforts result in a telegram delivered to col
lege freshman Jean Seberg, whose father, a pharma
cist in Marshalltown, Iowa, is still talking about his
daughter's recitation honors.
The telegram says, "You are one of 2,000 semi
finalists in the search for an actress to play Shaw's
Saint Joan. Please report to Chicago for an audition
before Otto Preminger."
Miss Seberg is stunned. But not family friend and
neighbor J. W. Fisher, the Marshalltown manufac
turer who secretly entered her in the contest. Nor
her mother, nor the other three Seberg children.
It's a good thing Jean has this loyal backing. Only
17, she is as terrified at appearing before the hard
bitten director as Saint Joan was in facing the In
quisition. Preminger has a reputation for being stern,
unrelenting, dictatorial.
But Fisher and the Seberg family play their
supporting roles well, and Jean finds herself on-stage
in Chicago giving a reading. Later, for 50 finalists,
there is a Hollywood or London screen test.
Jean has played her role well. She becomes Prem
inger's "fresh" Saint Joan!
Call it luck, coincidence, or the triumph of talent,
this is the Cinderella story of an actress whose first
screen appearance will be a major event of the coming
film season.
Filming of "Saint Joan" has been completed, yet
nervousness and awe still are very much a part of
Jean Seberg. She'd be ignorant of the depths of her
role if they weren't.
Preminger's production, however, moved forward
smoothly; Miss Seberg sensed Preminger's confidence
in her natural ability and showed it before the camera.
But how does she feel off the set, thinking about
her big debut? "I'm embarrassed by all the attention,"
she says quietly. "I only hope I won't disappoint all
the people who expect so much of me."
Back in Marshalltown, Mr. Seberg shakes his head.
"Ask me about all this in a couple of years. I'm still
too bewildered to give you an answer now."
And Mrs. Seberg? All she says is, "Whatever Jean
'wants to do is all right with me. I just want her to
be happy."
There's anxiety in Mrs. Seberg's voice if not in
her words. She knows Jean has reached a tremendous
pinnacle overnight. A fall from such heights could
shatter a teen-age girl.
But in Hollywood the wise guys are certain Jean
has a firm footing at the top. Mrs. Seberg hopes they
are right this time.
Jean revisits admiring friends in Marshalltown, la. The Seberg family joins Jean in a press conference. One home-town girl asks another for her autograph.
FomlI Weekly. April 2. 1957 11