Today, a very special treat as we chat with the dynamic and beautiful actress and singer, Miss JULIE LONDON . . . . . . .
Thank you very much.
JULIE, you perform both as an actress and as a singer. Actually, which came first?
The acting was first. As a teenager I was an actress; and then I retired for some years . . . . . about five or six, and then
came back as a singer.
Was it difficult to return to "the business" after being away fromit for so long?
After being retired for as long as I was, it was a very difficult thing to accomplish any feat at all, including going back
to acting. But, yes, it was very scary and very frightening, but also a lot of fun.
JULIE, your talent has covered a wide area of show business. What aspect of the business is most fascinating to you?
Well, I find that a little bit of each . . . . . For instance, if it's an excellent script, I enjoy it tremendously . . . . the acting part of it. If it's a terrible script, it's a terrible bore. If I'm doing a good song with a good arrangement, I have a ball doing it. And if it's the opposite, I'm just as bored with that.
I prefer the things around town so I get to stay home. I'm not one for going out of town too much --- I like to be home. That seems to be the only drawback in doing clubs.
UPI Telephoto
Universal Pictures
JULIE, has your success affected the lives of your children in any way? Has it presented any particular problems at home?
No, I haven't run across anything of that sort as yet, and as far as I can see, that isn't about to happen. They live a perfectly normal life. I try to take them with me as much as possible when I do have to go out of town so that we aren't apart for long sessions at a time; so that actually we're together as much as most parents and their children are.
How would you feel about your children being in the entertainment business? . Well, actually, I don't have a darn thing to say about it . . . . . they'll make up their own mind when they become the right age. But until then, I would certainly like them to live as normally as possible without any thoughts of foregoing any childhood pleasures by going to work. I think they belong in school, but after that, and after they have achieved all the education that they need and they want, then it's up to them what they want to do.
JULIE, what is the answer to your successful marriage to popular song-stylist and composer Bobby Troup? Do you work and travel together?
Bobby and I have been working together for about a year in clubs, but not actually together. We work in the same club,
but not at the same time. Bobby does not accompany me because I think that would take away from what he is doing
for himself. Also, I think it would be absolutely deadly if I had to be in Vancouver one week and Bobby had to be someplace
else. I think it's wonderful that we can be together. I think that's one of the most difficult things in any marriage. I think that
in order to build anything, you must be together. You can't build anything over the telephone.
JULIE, how do you cope with your wardrobe problem? You probably can't wear the
same dress twice. What do you do about that situation?
Well, it's very complicated because, as you say, I cannot wear the Bobby, JULIE, and Sugar in their den in 1962
same
thing too often. For instance, on a television show such as
Photograph courtesy of the New
York News Coloroto Magazine The
Bob Hope Show or The Garry Moore Show, all the gowns have
to
be brand new, something that has never been seen before. However,
I can take these and use them in my nightclub appearances after
that. But traveling on a plane and carrying gowns and packing them
and unpacking
them . . . . . they're inclined to fall apart a
little. So it's a constant worry of keeping up your wardrobe and
having enough so that you don't get bored yourself. [JULIE
laughs.] That's one of the main problems . . . . . I hate to
put on the same dress too often!
Finally, JULIE, what do do to relax, and get away from the tensions of "the business? Well, I love to be home and I'm an inveterate card player. I love to do that, that I forget everything, just about, when I'm playing cards. So usually, when I'm not working, I sit around the swimming pool and try to keep the children from going to the bottom, the deep end . . . . . and try to keep myself from doing the same. And then, in the evenings, usually play cards.
It's been a great pleasure talking with you . . . . . . . Thank you very much.
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Shortly after JULIE and Bobby were married in 1959, an interview with JULIE was published. It appeared as part of an article in which wives were describing the special way their husbands said, "I love you." JULIE responded:
Up to the time I met Bobby, I was shy and insecure. My
marriage to Jack Webb had broken up, and I was so unsure of
myself that I felt I didn't know who I really was, or where I was going.
And then I met Bobby. He was one of the few people I had ever known who really wanted to do something for me.
He was genuinely concerned about me. Bobby was kind and gentle, and besides, he had faith in my talents as a
singer. Bobby kept telling me that if I would just try, I could be a big success, but for a long time, I just couldn't believe it.
Bobby knew that I was too shy to audition, so he persuaded Johnny Walsh, the owner of the 881 Club in Hollywood to let me sing, without an audition.
The idea of getting up in front of a room full of people and singing, terrified me, but Bobby stood beside me just before I went on.
'Don't worry about anyone, Julie,' he whispered, 'just forget all the people out there. Just sing to me.'
Well, I got out on the floor, and I remembered what Bobby had said. Suddenly, I felt more confident than I had in many years. Bobby had worked hard for me, he had faith in me.
Bobby has said, 'I love you,' many times since that night I first sang at the 881 Club. But dearest to me are his words,
'. . . just sing to me . . .'
because they demonstrated Bobby's faith in me --- the faith born of a real, deep
love.
JULIE, I know you are very proud of your home in California. Would you describe it for us? Well, it's in Royal Oaks, which is up in the hills in Encino, in the Valley. And we're sitting on a knoll. It's a large house . . . . . seven thousand square feet of house. There's a large den which is very rustic, with used brick and paneling and braided rugs and so forth. And then there's a formal
dining room . . . . . formal entry way. Then there's a
contemporary music room. [JULIE laughs.] And then there
is a sort of, ah, French Regency bedroom. It's sort of like
. . . . . oh, like being in the United Nations, I guess!
[JULIE chuckles.]