Evening star., 1940-12-15

finding just what the purpose was,
knowing only that it had some
thing to do with being important
some time.
Ruth seemed headed for a ca
reer as an artist by the time she
enrolled in high school, having
displayed considerable talent as a
painter. But suddenly that strange
impulse. the urge to write, over
came her one evening and before
long she was named editor of the
Tech Review. 1t was not enough of
an urge to conquer the talent for
painting. however, and Miss Hussey
decided to major in art when she
became freshman at Providence's
Pembroke College. So she turned
out, before long, to be the editor
of Pembroke's yearbook, Brun Mael.
Finally, it seems, art and the
urge to write sort of subdued each
other and Ruth Hussey found her.
self member of the Komians Club.
Your first guess is correct. That
was the Pembroke dramatic or
ganization, an enterprise toward
which Miss Hussey turned the full
flow of her enthusiasm.
The theater became the destiny
she was certain was for her. So Ger
tain was she, in fact. that she added
work with the Providence Players to
her curricular and extracurricular
activity at Pembroke. Then when
she had bestowed upon her by Penn
broke the degree of bachelor of
philosophy, she became uncertain
again when faced with the choice
between art, writing and the theater
as a career.
She Forsook Business.
So she made choice of her friends
the time. She went to Boston and
enrolled in a business school, de-
termined she would become busi-
ness woman. She did, too-for just
two and a half weeks
Then one day she ran across an
old Pembroke chum, girl who had
just returned from the University
of Michigan full of wonderful stories
of the excellence of the drama
courses there. Miss HuSsey dropped
her business career in midweek and
departed for Ann Arbor. Followed
a couple of summer seasons in stock
at Michigan vacation resort,
punctuated by rather boring winter
during which she devoted some time
to painting, considerable to an at
tempt to decide what she was going
to do with herself.
A second such winter interlude
might have followed but for radio
chore which opened before Ruth in
Providence. She auditioned and
found herself a radio fashion COM
mentator She also found herself
with work to do which lent sort of
odd but welcome fourth dimensional
aspect to her problem, work which
called upon each of the talents upon
which she was attempting to center
her interest. her writing, painting
and acting.
Started in the Theater.
This all went on happily and
successfully for 10 months. Then
Miss Hussey announced to her
mother she was going to visit
friends and rest for a couple of
weeks. She turned up week later
in Violet Heming's "Old Maid"
company at Providence's Albee
Theater. Mrs. Hussey is reported
to have announced to her daughter
at this time, II give up" ridding
herself of a remark which seems
also to have been past due.
That seems to have started Miss
Husseys theater career in earnest,
though those who know her prob
ably won't admit it yet. THE Old
Maid" led to roles in Waiting for
Lefty" Till the Day I Die"
and "Stevedore. And these led
right to the road company of Dead
End" which in turn led Miss Hus-
sey to Lost Angeles in June of
1887.
With all those talent scouts on
the loose in Hollywood, the expected
happened. One Of them saw Dead
End" sent his card around and be-
fore long Ruth Hussey was being in
terviewed, screen tested and gen.
orally frightened by the ways of the
cinema makers. And she signed
contract.
First there were bit roles, then
bigger roles. Then there were
roles lost and disappointments.
And then there were feature roles
and Miss Hussey learned how to
fight to get them. Finally she was
cast opposite Robert Taylor and
Walter Pidgeon in this forthcom-
ing Flight Command" And now
the boys at Metro have decided she
is their next star. They had bet
ter be careful, though, or they'll
discover some morning that their
Ruth Hussey has gone off to the
mountains to paint the sunrise and
carve a career for herself with one
of those other talents she has put