Evening star., 1946-01-06
HOLLYWOOD.

I1OLL1 WOSO.
Robert Young Is paying premiums
on more insurance policies than any
other person in Hollywood, or maybe
the world! Robert has 27 policies of
all kinds. He has thought of every
thing, including a tWo-thousand-a-
month payment to his wife Betty in
the event of his death. Each of his
children has a $4,000 education
policy. He has umpteen endowment
policies for himself, some of which
are already paying of. And he
even pays on an inheritance tax
policy so that when and if he ex-
pires the inheritance tax will not
have to come out of any money he
leaves his wife and children. The
premium on this gets bigger every
year in proportion to the increase
in Bob's income.
Il started my fire insurance policy
Is years ago, and my mother is the
beneficiary" Bob tells me proudly
,"And since then I've been adding
policies in proportion to my income.
1t was a lucky thing that an in
,surance man pointed out the in
heritance tax policy. I almost over
looked it. Why, some friends of
ours were in an awful fix because
the husband had died leaving in
surance policies for his wife, but
no provision for inheritance tax, and
she had to sell her house and car
and mortgage her policies to pay
the tax" There is half a million
dollars floating around in Mr.
Young's name, and it is on this that
wife Betty would have had to dish
out to tax assessors if her thought
Iful husband hadn't beaten them te
the punch with his policy.
II reckon" Bob tells me, thai
income tax takes go per cent of my
earnings. The other 40 per cent is
divided evenly between living ex.
penses and paying for my policies.
In case you are thinking that Box
skimps his family for the insurance
don't. They all live very well. Tht
Youngs own four houses. They
live in Beverly Hills and have iust
bought two lots at the beach, where
they will build a house. And there
are the houses in which live Bob.
and Betty's respective families.
1t Became a Game.
Never, in all Bob's Is years IL
pictures, have his working prospect!
been as bright as they are today
He is free-lancing for the first tim,
in that period, and to judge by hi.
commitments, Bob can keep the vol.
from the door and pay those pre-.
miums for as long as he wants to
Il was signed to a contract By
Metro when I was 26 years old
Bob tells me. They always cam.
to me year or Is months befor,
the end of my contract and askee
me to sign new one. / always did
1t became a game to see how Ion,
I'd last there" Fifteen years is s
nice long game-and a profitable
one-because every time he received
new contract there was a boos
in salary But in the past three
years Bob had made only one pic
ture at Metro and that studio re,
ceived lot of money for loanins
him to other companies, USUALLY
RKO. 1t was his successes for RKC
in two recent pictures-"T En-
chanted Cottage" and Those En-
dearing Young Charms final
ly convinced Robert he could nov
take chance and make much NOR,
money on his own as a free Lancer
Besides" says Bob, II though
that now I'd like to be my own boss
pick my own stories, and make m,
movies when I wanted to-" Bob ha
already agreed to make one pictur,
year for RKO for the next fiv,
years, two pictures for David Selz
nick during the next four years
| one picture for Hal Wallis, "Th,
Searching Wind" and the sequel t.