The Washington times., 1934-09-05

| urged the young loverS not to
jeop1rdize their futures By
silly marriage. Day and night,
they hammered GtDGy at Co
Jumbo or at Dorothy until the
tUo believed them and decided
to keep apart for GtChiIe. They
neUer came back to each other
Goatn-but they neUer gaze up
their Iove for each other.
Money was beginning to pour
in now. Russ had 80 suits
fashioned by the most exclu.
sive tailors. He had his show
car. He had valet and a
secretary. He also had his
own orchestra at the Waldorf
and offers for personal appear
ances from theaters throughout
the country. About this time,
there was another young gen.
tleman of grooming talent-a
Bing Crosby. Mr.. Crosby was
shy but eminently likeable. He
also had tricky voice and,
what was more to the point,
his name was appearing in the
prints far more frequently than
Columbo'S.
&C. c." Gag
So the press agents got busy
again. Hints were dropped to
the various city editors that q
certain well-known screen star
was sending Columbia fervent
kilograms, signed "G. G." Some
of them were signed merely
&C." One of them read, Russ,
my heart, why must you act so
childish?" Columbo, until he was
informed by Mr.. Conrad, knew
as much about it as did the city
editors. It was Mr.. Conrad who
informed him that Greta Gar
bo's initials were &c. g."
Mr.. Conrad also informed him
that 5000 worth of roses we're in
the lobby Of the st. Moritz Hotel
addressed to Miss Garbo-bear.
ing a card signed, Russ" It was
all very confusing to Russ who
had never met. The Garbo and
who loved only Dorothy Dell.
Nevertheless, the newspapers
Of Manhattan put two and two
together and got the four that
Mr.. Conrad and the astute press
agents planned. Colulnbo crashed
front pages and more offers
poured in.
Through it all, the handsome
Italian boy, with his keen sense
Of humor, never took it very
seriously. He felt he was a pro-
duct of publicity and it was diff.
ficult to convince him that he
had q Hkeable voice and warm
personality. I don't believe he
realized his own worth as an
entertainer until after his mis-
understanding with Conrad and
his subsequent but temporary
drop out Of the limeIight!
His success in his first real
picture part did more to bring
MIN real confidence than all the
glowing praises inspired by the
aStute Conrad. Nevertheless, up
to his very death, I think Co.
Jumbo regretted the break be-
tween them. Conrad would
nave brought Columbo to screen
Stardom quickly-he has that
way about him.
CoIunabo D1S a lazy CORE.
Spondent. Once, perhaps, in t,Uo
or three months / tOould hear
from him. Sometimes he aOould
torwGrd some idiotic fan letter
he had received, or else he Uould
ask me to be nice to the club of
girls In this to1Un tOho had their
Russ Columbo Club and even
got out newspaper deUoted to
him. He felt he UGS on the
right track in pictures and
joShed about his remodeled
nose, urging me to get my nose
Strengthened and shortened and
try a hand at pictures With him.
He never mentioned Conrad
and Dorothy Dell only once.
That was right after her death
when I received a card from him
with just one line:
GOD will love her when he
gets to know her. Russ"
Which is the nearest he ever
got to sentiment, spoken or
written-aS far as know. Both
his speech and his letters were
always matter Of fact - and
slightly humorous. So long,
Russ!