Evening star., 1950-04-13

Jimmy Ellison, the move actor,
was in town the other day and
paused long enough at luncheon
to bring his career UP to date.
The occasion of his visit was a
Tuesday night appearance at the
Variety Club benefit rodeo at
Uline Arena along with Russ
Lucky Hayden, and it develops
that Mr.. Ellison has not dropped
out of sight on the Hollywood
scene.
He has merely taken to the
sagebrush country packing lis
six-guns in the interest of law
and order and also in the interest
of steady, enjoyable employment
in the open air. His partner in
the new western series is Mr.. Hay
den, who is about as tall as Mr..
Ellison and not quite SO wide.
Mr.. Ellison is probably the widest
movie leading man you ever saw.
! You know Mr.. Hayden. Lucky
used to be "Hopalong" Cassidy S
right hand man and still is
wherever television has invaded.
Mr.. Ellison served an appren-
ticeship with "Hoppy," too. and
then was sent through a series OF
movie drawing rooms, all the while
putting up a brave fight to get
back out of doors. Now having
broken into the open again, he
may revolutionize westerns. 1t
has long been the custom, you
know, for the hero to wind up
with his horse and the girl to be
let off with a polite nod.
Mr.. Ellison and Mr.. Hayden,
quite naturally wishing TO make
their work as pleasant as possible,
have been polling young western
film fans "a gallop polD to learn
q general attitude toward a cow
boy kissing his girl. They have
found an unexpected and over
whelming approval Of same.
Some of the answers have been
surprising, Mr.. Ellison reported.
Most of those approving said
kissing in westerns is permissible
because ID seems to make the peo-
pie indulging in it happy and
that makes for a happy ending.
One lad of 10 or IL said he'd
allow it because 1t looked like it
might be fun. Mr.. Ellison did not
debate this with him.
1t was not easy to get out of
those drawing rooms and back
into the open country where he
wanted to be, Mr.. Ellison said.
Once, he remembered, he had an
idea for a series of western films
and spent two hours selling it to
a producer at the studio where he
was employed.
That's a great idea, Jimmy" :"
the producer said at last, and I
know just the man for the job
Tim Holt"
What's that you say, boss?
This is supposed to be a night
club column, not a cowboy COL
umn? Well. Mr.. Ellison was in
town making picture called
Annapolis Salute" one time, a
dozen or so years ago, and we
had a drink with him in the
MayfloWer Lounge. He drank
milk.
One of the things you may not
know about Dorothy Shay, who
arrives tomorrow night at the Stat
Ter Embassy Room, is that she is
q frustrated actress. She became
a singer by persuasion rather than
by choice. The persuaders were
the instructors to whom she went
for vocal lessons to improve her
acting technique, after she had
put in a season of summer stock
on leaving school.
She was just another ballad
singer for awhile-a good one, but
just another one. Then she went
on USO tour and decided that
her CT audiences could do with
something more robust than ro-
mantle ballads. Back in New York,
she turned from radio to night
clubs and at a Manhattan hotel
she decided those audiences might
like the same sort of thing that
the GIs had approved so highly.
That's when Dorothy Shay be-
came the Park Avenue Hillbilly''
and leaped to sudden fame sing
ing some of the funniest songs
you ever have heard. Miss Shay'S