m Big Al Hirfs
fa Big Family
On Father's Day, no show-business papa is prouder of his brood than the
big daddy of Dixieland trumpet players By GEORGE S. O'NEAL
Al' iin's holds Jeff Davis, 3, youngest of their eight left; Mary Lee, 19, standing; Brigid, 11, with dog; and
children. Others are Rebecca, It, and Gretchen, 17, at on the- floor, Rachel, 9, Jennifer, 5, and Stephen, 7.
SECRET service men at President Kennedy's
inaugural ball closed in on a stranger who
was squirming through the crowd.
The massive, black-bearded man was carrying a musical
instrument case that was just the right size to hold a
Tommy gun. When he told them his name and said he had
been invited to play his trumpet at the ball, they were un
impressed. They had never heard of Al Hirt, and before
they let him go, he had to show them his trumpet and
prove his identity.
That could hardly happen today; in a little more than
two years, Al Hirt has become a celebrity. 'Millions of tv
viewers have seen the Dixieland trumpeter on the Ed Sul
livan, Dinah Shore, and Andy Williams shows. He also
has made two movies, "World by Night" and "Lovers
Must Learn"; he packs them in with his night-club act,
and his record albums have triggered a big popular re
sponse. On his upcoming LP, "Beauty and the Beast," Al
not only plays his horn but shares the vocals with singer
dancer Ann-Margret
What's Al Hirt like? I spent a good deal of time with
him and his wife Mary during a visit they made to New
York and I can assure you that Al is a big man in more
ways than one.
Six-feet, two-inches tall and weighing 300 pounds, Al
has an appetite to match his size. He can stash away a
dozen eggs for breakfast, a peck of shrimp and a brace
of lobsters for lunch, and a rack of lamb for dinner.
But above all else, the keystone of Al's engaging per
sonality is his bighearted love for his children and the
enormous enjoyment he gets out of raising a large family.
He and Mary already have eight youngsters, and they
are determined to have four more. Their oldest, Mary Lee,
is 19. Then comes Gretchen, 17; Rebecca, 12; Brigid, 11;
Rachel, 9; Stephen, 7; Jennifer, 5; and Jefferson Davis,
going on 4.
The Hirts live in a large seven-room house in New Or
leans. But with a brood the size of theirs, complete privacy
is still hard to come by. Mary recalls one Sunday morning
when she awoke with the feeling that someone was look
ing at her. When she got her eyes wide open, she discov
ered she was right. The door to her room was ajar, and
there was Steve taking a pal on a tour of the premises.
Pointing to Mary, Steve said, "And that over there, she's
my mother."
OF NECESSITY, the Hirt household is well organized but
not with cold, impersonal precision. For instance, each
of the children looks forward to the day when he will be
promoted from the small-fry nook to the grownups' table
in the dining room. There is no set time for promotion; it
comes when Al and Mary feel the child has earned the
advancement
Now that Al is on the road a great deal, the big moment
of each day for the Hirt family is 6:30 p.m. That's when
he calls long-distance for a family confab. The children
and Mary are there, waiting for the phone to ring. One
by one, they take their turns talking with Daddy. Preced
ence is determined not by age but by who is the most
eager to talk next.
"Those long-distance calls take around 45 minutes, and
they run into plenty of money," Al says. "But they make
my life worth living."
10 rmll Wwkly. Swu !, IMJ