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Chronicle (Cir. D. 154,608 - S. 261,956) Louella O. Parsons !M HOLLYWOOD Take Awc^fth^^^eras and VAN JOHNSON Hy louella <0. Parsiw THERE never" wis a more frightened boy in this wide world "Ihan Van Johnspn when he made his deJfertit as ^.,\_mghi club entertain erV'.'_.'He sa-t&t-lh'e' ?√ß:Was so scared shat -he had to foe pushed out onto ?√ß?√ßhe---stage. .' t __$Ej_$ "B ut that was just'-St your opening," I sakjl: $PPay you weren't nervous afte^-reaSJ^ig all your wonderful notices?" '"That's what you think," he replied. "I was -'^^^^gwith medals sent me by Roz 'Russell and my &m& The family was on hand en masse for Van Johnson's' night club- debut ?╟÷ and they literally had to push him out onto the stage. other Catholic friends, plus one I was given in Rome while 1 was there making 'When in Rome.' I wouldn't go on stage without wearing them! "I never realized," Van continued, "how nice it is to have a wife until I went to Las Vegas. Evie looked after my clothes, gave me courage, saw to the lighting, and was always sitting out front at every performance. She only left me when she had to take the children home." "You mean the three children were there?" I said. Despite his success as a stories to come along, night club entertainer,' Van is jusi and .there is talk of his doing isical on Broadway. the opening," Van said. "In fact, my daughter Schuyler wanted to get up on the stage with me, but I wasn't hep-enough in the beginning to let her come up on the stage. I was afraid to do anything not planned. The boys (and Van was speaking of Evie's sons by Keenan Wynn) were surprised." "But why?" I asked. "Oh, they've always thought I ran . a projection machine at the studio: they never knew I was an actor. You see, I run movies at home, and they've always seen me operate the machine. We want them to have a normal childhood, without a lot of publicity." Van Was on his way to further night club engagements and had stopped to see me. In all the years he has been coming to my house for interviews (and that's since he joined Metro in 1942), I've never seen him look as well groorr and as alert. "The test night ment in Las Vegas,J| "the waiters, musicj?║ men possible in wore red socks!" Van says his g lind Russell has sisting that he taHj a musical on Bro; ?╟≤ "Judging from J . drew into the niglf "it might be a sin He said he had not been on the stage in years! "And don't forget," he added frankly, "then I was only a chorus boy." ' I heard an interesting story about the way Van was brought to the attention of M-G-M moguls. A young I girl went to New York, and M-G-M's , publicity department was warned by Louis B. Mayer, then head of the studios, that he did not want her going to night clubs, but that she could go to a theater. T^^ That girl was Judy Garland, and Press Agent Milton Weiss took her to see "Pal Joey." Milt told me that on the way home from the theater Judy stopped and bought a penny poslteard ario^ent it to L. B. She I wrote-: "Have just seen two young I men;'I. think are photogenic. Their | names are ' Van Johnson and Gene: , Kelfe *** " *- \ t Sph* Van doesn't confirm this, because he says he-,went' first to Columbia c ^.L.4idi- L>eforeJe:.i :ng M-G-M. "But," he laughed, "i'f Judy is responsible for^^ '%^g-Jtt M-G-M later I am certainly grateful.'' | As Van left, I remarked that one of the nicest things that has happened in Hollywood in a long time is his great success in night clubs, and I'm sure that the good stories he wants will be coming his way BOW.