Herald and news., October 01, 1961, Image 32

Family WeeJcJy I Octobtr l, mi
The Second Life of
Beauty, talent success she had them all, yet never could escape the fears
v K-r VJL HJLAJl A JL By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER
of childhood; that came only with marriage to a forceful and dominant man
NINE-yeak-OLD Deborah's frantic screams
pierced the night. Her mother rushed
into her -room to find her daughter cowering
under her blankets. "The tree," she screamed.
"The tree it's going to crush me to death!"
The mother cradled the girl's head in her
arms and talked to her soothingly. What hap
'pened was nothing new. Deborah had been
frightened again and again by the gnarled
old. elm tree outside her window, which ,
spread a terrifying shadow across her bed.
"I always feared the tree would, crash
through the house and bury me beneath its
weight," Deborah Kerr, now a mature and
internationally acclaimed movie actress, con
fessed to me a short while ago. "Yet the tree ,
was only a symbol of the insecurity that has
haunted me through most of my life."
Deborah Kerr's insecurity can be traced to
an invalid father, a persecution complex in,
school, an unsuccessful marriage, and the
fact that, feminine as she is, for a long while
she had to play the role of decision maker,
"man of the house." .." ; : , "
Her only refuge had been her work, on
which she concentrated with such fanaticism
that a long-time acquaintance, actress Lois
DC:
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71 ''J(Ws3i
Maxwell, once remarked: "Nothing will ever
stop this girl from getting what she wants."
At last Deborah has got what she wants
but not the way Lois pictured it. After many
laurels as an actress in "From Here to Eter
nity," "The King and I," "Tea and Sym
pathy," "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison," and
"Separate Tables," Deborah's interest in her
career has suddenly, limited itself to an occa
sional "irresistible" role such as "The In
nocents," which she recently completed for
20th-century Fox. I learned the reason for
this change during the three days I spent
with her and her new husband, writer Peter
Viertel, in their mountain hideaway near
Klosters, Switzerland. '
She welcomed me in front of her split
level house as I approached on a path which
winds between two ponds used for swimming
in summer and skating in winter.
. Outwardly I could see no change in Deb
orah. She looked radiantly beautiful with her
1 & tf "n?
red hair, pale freckled complexion, and clas
sic features. Her warm, friendly handshake
promised the kind of welcome that has made
Deborah the most popular of all actresses
among her coworkers. '
I sensed, though, that only the surface was
the same. This was a "new" Deborah Kerr,
relaxed, self-confident, and happy. Most of
the change intentionally or otherwise has
been brought about by her new husband. Pe
ter Viertel is the strong, forceful, "old-country"
type of husband who has given her a
direction she has never had before.
Deborah's childhood terrors,' which in
various ways she carried into adult life,
had their beginnings in her early family life
in Scotland. It was a close-knit, happy family,
but Deborah's beloved father, a civil engi
neer, was slowly wasting away with tuber
culosis contracted during World War I in
the Dardanelles where he also lost a leg.
At nine, Deborah was sent to a boarding
school to relieve the burden on her mother ; .
these days were possibly the unhappiest of
her life, a series of badgerings and bullyings
from the older girls there who saw in
sensitive Deborah an easy whipping girl.
Despite her shyness and fears, Deborah
turned to play acting as a release, and when . '
her father died she took up the stage in or
der to support her mother and younger
brother. Deborah's passiveness and quiet
beauty didn't combine for overnight success.
There were only bit parts until Gabriel Pas
cal, a producer who was casting for Bernard
Shaw's ."Major Barbara," spotted her and
asked, "Who is this sweet little maiden?"
, Deborah won a supporting role, and in
, 1947 Pascal Bold her contract to Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer
for $250,000. Deborah's natural
standofflshness gained her the title of "The
Duchess" in Hollywood, but, surprisingly,
genuine .affection as well. In a town where
extrovertism is a way of life, Deborah Kerr :
somehow won favor simply by being her own
introverted self.
But she did not overcome those old haunt
ing fears and the childhood apprehensions
she'd known since Scotland. In 1945, she
turned to marriage as a more fulfilling es- '
cape from insecurity than work had pro
vided. Her first husband was Anthony Bart-
I
. ley, a handsome Royal Air Force ace, who
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3 -v'
was doomed by circumstances to play a sec
ondary role in their marriage much to the
disappointment of both partners.
For 12 years, as Deborah's acting star
rose, Tony followed her to locations all over
the. world. Tony's activities, first as Deb
orah's business manager and later as a tele
vision and movie producer, were always
eclipsed by his wife's fame. One friend ex
plained their marriage failure this way: "He
could, no longer endure the lot of an uncele
brated man married to a celebrated woman."
AS ALWAYS, when difficulties in her private
. life became unbearable, Deborah turned
more and more to acting as her refuge from
feelings of inadequacy. Even she admits that
it is a form of escape. "I have always wanted
to be other people not just one other, but
many others." . '.
Marriage to Peter Viertel who is of Ger
man, Austrian, Polish, and Russian descent
i has at last brought Deborah out of this un
real existence. At times he acts as a sort of
father confessor, allowing Deborah to dis
cuss her fears, an opportunity she hasn't had
since she was a little girl. ', -
Having a dominant man in the house who
. is willing to shoulder responsibility has been
good for both Deborah and her daughters,
who divide their time between Bartley and
the Viertels. . Peter has relieved Deborah
from the responsibility of being the "heavy"
with her daughters, a task always distasteful
to her. On the other hand, the girls appre
date the new strictness in their lives. "Me
lanie and Francesca respond to his marvelous
way with youngsters," Deborah says. "He is
direct and blunt If they're making too much
noise, he simply .tells them to 'shut up,' and
they always do." ' -' ' .. ' ; '
Peter is just as firm with Deborah. "I've
never been interested in clothes, for one
thing,", Deborah explains. "I hate shopping
it's ghastly but Peter insists that I go
with him. While he likes casual clothing here
in Klosters, in town he demands elegance.
As a result, I'm much better dressed today."
. What will the future hold for Deborah 7
v After, years of submergence in her career,
; Deborah admits, "I'm finding it increasing
ly hard to work.'? .
She considers this a good sign because at
last she can relax. Professional opportunities
jvkjw - ;- (Continutd on ptgt t)