The Washington times., 1936-11-30
Robert Taylor Tells of His First Love Affair
Actor Recalls VividIy
This Romance at
Age Of II.
BY LYDIA CALVERT
CHAPTER VII

Ine ldea OF going lnCO CnS movies
never entered the mind Of Robert
Taylor when he was growing up.
He pictured himself becoming a
doctor like his father or perhaps
a surgeon. He was the thoroughly
normal boy.
He loved this man who was his
father, the good, kindly doctor
whose words of advice were so easy
to take and as efficacious to the
system as sugar-coated pills. AS
he had cured the ailing mother of
sickness, so he had kept his son
we'll both in body and mind
through childhood and into man.
hood.
Now Robert was going to the
Beatrice High School. He was at
the difficult age". His voice was
changing from a childish treble to
a masculine baritone. Girls were
all right in their place but their
place wasn't around him. Men"
wanted to talk and smoke Gig
aret and discuss the important
topics Of the day.
Mans World
OF course, when the team was
out on the gridiron or the baseball
diamond they could not help it if
the girls lined up along the sides
to cheer at their feats Of masculine
daring and their exhibitions Of
prowess. But, of course, one didn't
notice them. This was a mans
world. And then lie fell in love.
He was Penrod.
Puppy love? Bah! That had
come and gone. This was the
real thing. This was first" love.
He couldn't eat or sleep for
thinking of the way the curlS
swept back from her forehead, the
soft way she had of saying his
name. lie went to his mother
and told her reverently, ecstatic-
ally, he had met "the most won
derful girl in the world"
SentimentaliSt, To Be Sure
Oh, he's a Sentimentalist all
right! Even now telling me about
his first wonderful love that smote
him at the age of seventeen he
can't hide the old feeling of ro
nance that comes Surging up in
his breast, and lights his eyes
with a gleam.
"Her name was Helen Rush."
he says. "She was a very sweet
child. She's married now and
has a family"
She had loved music just as
he did. They had a lot in com.
mon. They thought alike, they
played music together, they talked
and laughed and took long walks
until the lemon light of the
prairies deepened into long golden
shadows.
They understood each other
perfectly but it was the deep un-
derStanding never put into words.
Eyes seeking eyes flickered and
held in a deep wordleSs embrace
and suddenly it was over. Bob
won't tell you why or how. He's
not the kind to hold hands and
tell.
Respect for Women
From his fathers influence
there had developed in him a
deep respect for women. Now
with this new experience it was
sharp in his mind and he remem-
bered how his father had always
been thoughtful and kind and
gentle with his mother,
There had never been discord
between them but until now Rob.
ert had taken it for granted. Now
he knew it came from the won.
derful nature that was his fathers
and from the tender Solicitude
that was his mothers. He knew
now vividly that life meant giving
instead of taking. Environment
and heredity were strong in him
and he was glad.
One day in this stormy time
of his adolescence, leafing through
book in his fathers library he
came suddenly on a passage fol
which he had unconsciously been
seeking.
TaylOr's CredO
It seemed to have been written
just for him and straightwith HI
memorized it and took it for his
credo:
BLESSED be all Sorrows, Tor
mentS, HardShips.
Endurance that demands
courage
BLESSED be these things-fOr
Of these things cOmeth the max
ing Of a man
make of me a man-tO be
afraid of nothing to be
ready for everything love,
friendship, success to take
it if it comes to care moth
ing If these things are not for
make me brave! Make me
braVe!"
In the next few years Rober
was to meet Hugh Walpole, tn
man who wrote those words. Thl
writer had come to Hollywood
the young actors star was in tn,
aScendency. But before tina
time came q lot of water floweC
| IInIoJS tho hridOo