Evening star., 1941-11-23

snacks and a rich matted milk is
mid-afternoon pickup on the set
when she's working.
Naturally. most of the past 30
stars who are still classified in the
glamor category must guard against
fattening foods, but there's sur
prisingly large number who don't.
Jeanette's Fiye-a-Day.
Claudette Colbert is a good ex-
ample of the latter. She makes a
point of eating plenty of fried foods:
in fact anything which might add
to her weight, normally 108 pounds
Butter. cream, potatoes and rich
foods. which the average dieter
avoids like the plague, are always
on the Colbert menu.
There are feminine stars who must
constantly watch that waistline, to
say nothing of bulges in other criti-
cal spots, but it wouldn't be hard to
prove that they're in a decided mi
nority. The answer is that nervous
energy, constant activity and exer-
else burn up the surplus poundage.
jeanette Macdonald has been eat
ing a minimum of five meals a day
for as long as anyone in Hollywood
can remember. She brings a large
thermos jug of rich soup to the set.
and eats it with bread and butter,
mid-morning and mid-afternoon
Norma Shearer relishes rare steak
at 3 pm, midway between lunch
and dinner.
Now in the early thirties, Joan
Crawford is far less threatened by
the weight bugaboo than she was
when breaking into pictures. The
early movie Joan was plump speci-
men who dieted vigorously. Today
she eats anything and everything
and maintains her svelte figure by
plenty of exercise. mainly swimming
and tennis. Joan is another who
daily carries special foods to the
studio.
Katharine Hepburn. considerably
taller than most (5-feet-O but
weighing only los, and with a 81
inch waist. had to keep stoking up
with proteins and carbohydrates
all the way through woman Of the
Year" so as not to fall below the
hundred mark.
But Some Suffer.
Lunch isn't lunch to Bette Davis
(5-feet-3, l12. poundO unless it
winds up with large slab of choco-
late cake and dipper of ice cream.
And the .favorite noon meals of
Gene Tierney t5-feet-5, 108) and
Betty Cradle (5-feet-4, 112) consists
of steaks and all the trimmings,
topped off by a pastry.
While the cry of Come and get
it" is a welcome sound to all these
lucky actresses. it carries mournful
tone for a few others, notably Mau-
reen OHara and Patricia Morrison.
both of whom have lost several fine
roles in the past couple of years
because Of weight troubles. The
lovely Maureen is constantly on q
diet. "All have to do Is look at
square meal and take ON s
pounds" she says.
The reason foreign actresses sell
dom enjoy lasting careers In Holly
wood can be traced to their taste for
rich food and plenty of it and, in
most cases, a natural addiction to
putting on weight. Many Euro
pean imports have literally eaten
their way of the screen. Hedy
Lamar is about the only one not
seriously affected. but even she is
forced to fast from time to time.
The boys at M. G. M. still remem-
Der with awe the breakfasts served
to Luise Rainer for weeks after her
arrival in this country. Luise dis
covered apple pie here for the first
time in her life. Every morning
she turned up in the commissary
with the same order: Half an apple
pie and two pots Of coffee.
One of Hollywood's best known
men-about-town sums up the anti
diet situation succinctly. Says Mr..
Cesar Romero, who picks up . lot
of checks:
1.-THE smaller . Aim heroine, the
more it costs to take her out to
dinner"
Rslsased b. the North American Jesvs-
pAper AnianeA Ma)