The marriage had problems from the beginning; at first they lived on a shoestring [and the generosity of friends] as Jack pursued work; in less than a year, they were separated.
While Jack worked on a variety of radio shows, JULIE had parts in
THE RED HOUSE, TAP ROOTS, and TASK FORCE. The two reconciled in 1949 and daughter Stacy was born in January 1950.
JULIE continued to work sporadically ["when we needed the money," she once said], and played the heroine in
RETURN OF THE FRONTIERSMAN. While she was making THE FAT MAN in 1951, JULIE was offered another film, but turned it down.
She said she was married to a really talented man and she wanted him
to feel important . . . . . . . . she felt it was not good for the marriage if the wife was more successful than the husband.
And, true to her word, she held back her own promising career although it was widely agreed that she would have always been in demand and could have worked steadily.
"I think I'm a good actress," JULIE said at that time, "but Jack has greatness."
Shortly after Dragnet made its television debut, Jack's work became all-consuming, to the detriment of everything else.
Daughter Lisa was born in November 1952, but JULIE's efforts to hold the marriage together collapsed when Jack left for the studio one day and simply did not return.
In August 1953, when it became evident that he was never coming back, she filed for divorce.
For JULIE, this marriage was to have been her lifetime commitment, and many of her friends felt
she carried a torch for Jack long after the divorce. "I guess I was in shock," JULIE later said. "My mother and dad had been so happy and well-adjusted. I'd never thought of divorce.
I'd never been around it." Devastated, JULIE took the girls to Paris for a while, returning a few months later
to Palm Springs. Despite Jack's acknowledgement that the fault for the breakup was solely his,
JULIE brooded. "When you're a woman," she once confessed, "and your marriage breaks up, you
fall apart. At least I did. I felt suddenly old and stupid . . . . and uninteresting and unattractive.
All of a sudden, it wasn't 'we' any more. Before that, it was 'We' --- and then that 'we' isn't there,
and it isn't even 'she' any more because you've lost all your drive and spirit."
LOOK
magazine
Suffering what she called a "failure of self-confidence," JULIE set about devoting her life to caring
for her her
daughters.
Then, on March 24, 1954, friends convinced her to go out with
them. They went to the Celebrity Celebrity
Room and there JULIE met Bobby Troup. The two hit it off at once; he made
her special once more. Bobby, Bobby,
thoroughly smitten, nonetheless recognized her talent and urged her to
sing, but JULIE had no confidence in in
her abilities and would not be swayed. As a young teenager, she'd sung a bit
with some small groups, most most
notably Matty Malnech's, but none of these engagements lasted long.
"None of the arrangements were in my my
key," she once said, "and I sounded horrible."
[Not to mention the fact that once they found out her true age, age,
they had to let her go.]
Suffering what she called a "failure of self-confidence," JULIE set about devoting her life to caring
for her her
daughters.
Then, on March 24, 1954, friends convinced her to go out with
them. They went to the Celebrity Celebrity
Room and there JULIE met Bobby Troup. The two hit it off at once; he made
her special once more. Bobby, Bobby,
thoroughly smitten, nonetheless recognized her talent and urged her to
sing, but JULIE had no confidence in in
her abilities and would not be swayed. As a young teenager, she'd sung a bit
with some small groups, most most
notably Matty Malnech's, but none of these engagements lasted long.
"None of the arrangements were in my my
key," she once said, "and I sounded horrible."
[Not to mention the fact that once they found out her true age, age,
they had to let her go.]
