1
i i
Life of Diane Barrymore Was Story of Fairy Tale in Reverse, Quigg Writes
(Editor's note: Diana Barry-
more - member of the "royal
family" of the American the
eter. who tried and failed to
"make it big" on the stage -died
tragically at 38 on Mon
day. Her tempestuous life ran
from childhood ' in Newport
society to adulthood debauch
ery, love affairs and shame.
This dispatch tells of her last
days fighting for success and
her concern about death.)
By H. D. QUIGG
United Press International
New York - (UPD - "Of
eourse," said a movie review
about the actress in her 20's,
"Diana Barrymore played the
role to the hilt, and right on
past the hilt halfway up to
the elbow."
She played life that way,
too. It was in Hollywood that
her career began to vanish.
What she called "the family
sickness" of her famed actor
forebears was on her. On the
lots, it was known she had
begun to drink seriously at
20.
The life of the girl who was
christened Diana Blanche Bar
rymore Blythe (the family's
name was Blythe, its stage
name Barrymore) was a fairy
. tale in reverse. It started with
the dainty foot in the glass
slipper and ran backwards to
Cinderella scrabbling in rags
in the cinders.
She remembered she had
her first drink when she was
1. Daddy bought it. Daddy
was John Barrymore, the
great profile, most famous
actor of his day. Paying her
one of his extremely rare
visits, he picked her up at a
Baltimore school, took her to
dinner and bought her a
brand alexander. She had
two before dinner was over,
brandy alexander. She had
A critic once wrote that
"Diana Barrymore was born
with a silver spoon in her
mouth but she choked on
it." She herself titled her
autobiography, published in
1957, "Too Much. Too Soon."
But the death which she her
self had prophesied after she
had started drinking again
recently came when she knew
she had achieved too little,
too late.
In the book she wrote that
he had lived three lives:
"First, that of a child reared
by governesses' in New York
and Paris, who became the
'enfante terrible' of society
columnist C h o 1 1 y Knicker
bocker and El Morocco and
Princeton week ends,, and all
the marvelous gold' and tinsel
of the social register. ; ,
"Then, that "of a young act
ress on Broadway and in
Hollywood, who tried desper
ately to live up to a fabulous
name in the world bounded
by her father's escapades and
her own confusion.
"And third, there is the life
I have led since - a life which
IN DRESSING ROOM - This photo shows Diana Barrymore,
a member of the "Royal Family" of the American theater,
who tried and failed to "make it big" on the stage. She died
tragically at 38 Monday. She is shown above following the
opening performance in the play, "The Ivory Branch," at the
Provincetown Playhouse in New York. (UPI Telephoto)
Showdown Looms
On Housing Issue
In Current Session
Peace and Quiet
Said Bad for
Elderly Persons
Chicago -(Science Service)
Too much "peace and quiet"
may be the worst possible
treatment for elderly persons.
Sounds in particular are a
bridge between the older per
son and reality. Dr. Ewald W.
Busse of Duke University
Medical center, Durham, N.C.,
reported here to a symposium
sponsored by the American
Association for the Advance
ment of Science.
The person whose hearing
gradually decreases is often
unaware that he has lost these
bridging sounds. He has a
feeling of loss and a sensation
that the world is dead, ex
plained Dr. Busse, who is a
professor of psychiatry and
director of the center for the
study of aging. An increase in
the level of background noises
to help elderly individuals
maintain contact with reality
may be advisable, Dr. Busse
suggested.
Hearing Important
He also reported that re
sults of a study of the effects
of visual and hearing losses
on the Rorschach performance
of elderly persons shows in
tactness of hearing is more im
portant than perfect vision in
maintaining normal psychic
function. Severe impairment
of both can have serious im
pact on the personality, how
ever. It is not generally rec
ognized, for example, that the
elderly person needs greater
illumination to see adequate
ly and more time to adapt to
darkness when he leaves a
well-lighted area.
Airlines Reappoints
Station Manager
Don E. Kocina has been
reappointed station manager j
for the West Coast airlines j
at Medford, effective Feb. 1, i
it was announced through the
company today.
Kocina will come here '
from Omak, Wash., where he
has been station manager for
the firm since leaving here
about six months ago.
The Kocinas recently re
turned from a vacation in
Hawaii which was awarded
him by the company. The
couple with their four sons
will live in Medford.
Edward C LeShane, the
present station manager here,
has been appointed station
manager for Boise," Idaho. He
is to take over his new ap
pointment Feb. 1.
Washington Congressional
Democrats and Administra
tion are headed for another
showdown on housing legisla
tion in 1960.
It may develop along the
same lines as the 1959 con
troversy which produced two
Eisenhower vetos of housing
bills and two unsuccessful
Senate attempts to override.
Democrats will stick to
their traditional strategy of
tying programs favored by
the Administration primar
ily the FHA insurance pro
grams to program it op
poses (large boosts in public
housing and urban renewal)
in one omnibus bill.
Sen. John J. Sparkman (D
Ala.), chairman of the Senate
Banking and Currency Hous
ing Subcommittee, already
has indicated that he would
introduce an omnibus housing
bill later this session.
Controversial Issues
Tight Money Democrats
say a scarcity of credit is in
part responsible for an an
ticipated drop in new housing
construction in 1960. Last
month the Census Bureau esti
mated the 1960 starts at 1.2
million new units, a 10 per
cent drop from 1959.
Chairman Albert Rains (D
Ala.) of the House Banking
and Currency Housing Sub
committee Jan. 6 introduced
a bill to raise the purchasing
authority of the Federal Na
tional Mortgage association
by $1 billion. The effect
would be to permit banks to
lend more money to potential
home builders.
Another provision of the
Rains bill would lower the
insurance costs on FHA-in-sured
mortgages, in effect
lowering the interest costs on
mortgages. Rains said this
would pump more money in
to the housing industry and
raise housing starts. The Ad
mistration is expected to op
pose both provisions.
Public Housing Under
this program the Federal Gov
ernment loans local govern
ments the money to construct
low-rent public housing proj
ects, absorbing the cost not
paid for by the rents. Dem
ocrats may push for author
ization of as many as 45,000
new units. The Administra
tion is expected to oppose any
increase until the present
authorization is used up.
Urban Renewal Through
this program local govern
ments buy slum and blighted
areas and sell the land, at a
loss, to private builders for
redevolpment. The Federal
Government a b s or b s two
thirds of the loss.
Congressional Democrats in
1959 favored raising Federal
authorization for urban re
newal to $500 million a year,
but the final bill spread $650
million over two years. Presi
dent Eisenhower is expected
to make no new requests for
this program, but the Dem
ocrats are likely to include
increases for the program in
an omnibus bill.
In addition, Congress will
have to legislate for college
and veterans' housing if the
programs are to continue. The
former is expected to run out
of money by mid-1960 and the
direct housing loans to vet
erans program, runs out of
statutory authority July 25,
1960.
Democratic housing strate
gy in recent years has been
to tie all aspects of the pro
gram into one omnibus bill,
forcing the President into
signing it in order to get the
programs he wants. Mr. Ei
senhower has repeatedly ask
ed for separate and perman
ent authority for the Federal
Housing Administration mortgage-insurance
programs and
home-loan improvement in
surance program, but Demo
crats have repeatedly tied
limited authorizations for
these programs to increases in
public housing and urban re
newal and forced the Presi
dent to accept at least part of
their program.
The Sparkman omnibus bill
undoubtedly will follow this
same strategy while President
Eisenhower is likely to ask
for special legislation for the
particular programs he fav
ors. (Copyright 1960
Congressional Quarterly Inc.)
I often think needs the com
bined talents of a Tennessee
Williams and a Dostoevski to
explain, and the wisdom and
compassion of a St. Augustine
to forgive."
Doctor's Warnings
New York gossip column
ist linked her name roman
tically with that of playwright
Tennessee Williams, but he
said they were just good
friends. It was in a play of
his that she scored a success
last spring in Chicago. That
was' after a long climb back
from the depths.
When her third husband,
Robert Wilcox, the actor -with
whom she brawled so
conspicuously that their
names were often in headlines-died
in 1955, she re
membered her
"You are on '. dreadful
merry - go - round alcohol,
barbiturates, stimulants. If
you don't get off it quickly,
you will die . , . your drink
ing has already given you the
beginnings of cirrhosis of the
liver . . . you simply cannot
continue to torment your
body as you have been doing.
Drivers Tend to
'Tense Up' on
Hazardous Roads
Washington, (Science Serv
ice) Drivers tend to "tense
up" on roads that keep them
guessing as to what the next
hazard will be.
This could be a busy artery
through a city at rush hour,
or an area along a wide high
way congested with shopping
center traffic.
Tests were run on 10 driv
ers who were "wired" for
measuring galvanic skin re
flex associated with tense
ness. Results showed that ten
sion in drivers mounts as haz
ards become more difficult
to predict, and as traffic com
plexity increases.
Tests Conducted
Richard M. Michaels of the
U.S. Bureau of Public Roads
told the Highway Research
board meeting here that the
tests were conducted during
five time periods, including
peak and off-peak traffic
hours, and at night. The tests
were conducted on two urban
streets.
During the tests, "traffic
events" requiring action oc
curred at the rate of one
every 21 to 35 seconds. The
movement of other vehicles
accounted for 60 per cent of
these "events."
Robert V. Rainey, John C.
Conger and Charles R. Wal
smith of the University of
Colorado School of Medicine
reported "significant differ
ences" were found between
high school sophomores elect
ing to take driver education
courses and those who did not
study driving.
More Deliberate
The 15Vi-year-old boys who
elected to take driver educa
tion courses tended to be less
active, more deliberate and
restrained, and less prone to
rapid and hurried action.
They appeared less concerned
with dominating others and
with being conspicuous. They
were more likely to be "seri
ous and subdued." Socially,
these boys also tended to be
more shy and less spontane
ous in social gatherings.
The researchers pointed out
that driver education classes
thus appear to be composed
of "a selected group" and this
must be taken into considera
tion when weighing the mer
its of high school driver
courses in teaching safety.
DECLARE DIVIDEND
Oakland, Calif.-UPD-The di
rectors of Kaiser Aluminum
and Chemical corporation
have declared a 22 Vz cent per
share quarterly dividend on
common stock, payable Feb.
29 to stockholders on record
Feb. 12.
It took your father 60 years
to do it. You keep this up
and you'll manage in a much
shorter time."
She put herself into Towns
Hospital, a dry - out clinic
which her father had favored
in his time. She shook the
alcohol and barbiturates,
came out, completed the book
with Gerold Frank as collabo
rator. She worked hard, ap
peared in summer stock, off
Broadway, and on the road.
Reviews were, encouraging
but nothing to place her near
the eminence of daddy, or
aunt Ethel Barrymore, or un
cle Lionel Barrymore, or the
others, including great-uncle
John Drew, and greatgrand
mother Louisa Lane who was
Mrs. John Drew, the elder.
Had Morbid Foreboding
Friends "said she stopped
drinking perhaps a couple of
years but had started again
last Christmas "although she
knew she, would die ifshe
drank." Another friend, Mrs.
Irving Kupcinet of Chicago,
said that "she had a morbid
foreboding all last week, say-:
ing, 'I am running out of
time and 'I will die soon'."
She also said Diana had
told her to "get a nice black
hat and veil for my funeral -it's
going to be soon."
It was reported that four
policemen removed Diana
from the audience of a Broad
way play about 10 days ago
when she arrived intoxicated
and caused, a scene after tak
ing her seat.
She denied that she was in
toxicated. Dr. Colter Rule had been
treating her for chest pains.
Some friends had dropped in
to see her the night before
her death. There were three
empty liquor bottles in the
kitchen and some sedative
tablets in a cabinet of her
apartment when a maid found
her.
On the bed, nude, was the
body that had held a soul in
anguish. There remained the
statistics. Born New York
March 5, 1921. Nationality:
Irish, English, German de
scent. Height, five feet four.
Eyes brown, hair brown. The
autopsy showed no violence.
Apparently, as her lawyer
said, "she went to sleep and
didn't wake up."
Too much, too soon, or too
little, too late.
MAIL TRIBUNE, MtdforJ, Or. C
Thursday. Jan. 28, 1960 A
Lumbermen Attend
Planning Session
Several southern Oregon
lumbermen were in Eugene
this week to attend a plan
ning committee meeting of
the Oregon Logging confer
ence to be held Feb. 25
through 27.
Members of the committee
from this area include Leo
Hoag. Hoag Logging compa
ny. Trail; Jerry Lausmann,
Kogap Lumber industries, and
Bruce Blew, Bruce's Truck
service, both of Medford.
NATIVE TONGUE
Rio de Janeiro-Brazil is the
only country in South Amer
ica in which Portuguese is the
native and official language.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
-Washington - About 900.
000 species of animals have
be classified by zoologists. .
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