The Manhattan Mercury from Manhattan, Kansas • Page 5

MANHATTAN MERCURY RADIO TV LOG JUNE 28 THROUGH Radio Station KSAC 580 KG MANHATTAN JULY 4 Radio Station KMAN 1350 KC MANHATTAN MANHATTAN, KANSAS WDAF-TV CHANNEL 4 KANSAS CITY KCMO-TV CHANNEL 5 KANSAS CITY KMBC-TV CHANNEL 9, CABLE 2 KANSAS CITY WIBW-TV CHANNEL 13. CABLE TOPEKA WIBW-FM 97.3 TOPEKA Fell Into Acting Bethel Gets Chance To Show She's Sexy By JOAN CROSBY Newspaper Enterprise Assn. NEW YORK (NEA) The last television season was a memorable one for lively, pretty and talented Bethel Leslie. She appeared in 22 of 25 episodes of "The Richard Show" and wound up with: An Emmy nomination as best act- Bethel Leslie ress, five false noses and one pair of mink eyelashes. During the season Bethel played everything from a seductive ax murderess" to a dumb gangster's moll, to an Irish scrub woman, through a whole series of witchy mothers.

"One part that of a Mexican was cut from one show. I think my favorite character was the Irish scrub woman. I looked like a frozen robin in the make-up." When Bethel was cast as the gangster's moll, she wanted to play the part as an Italian with a Roman nose. "But I was told I couldn't wear a Roman nose because I wrinkle my forehead when I talk. Then the character was switched to a Judy Holliday type, and I wore an upturned nose.

After five different noses through the season, I switched to mink eyelashes. I also had lots of wrinkles added from tiai-3 to time. "But what was really depressing was playing Laura Devon's mother with no make-up at all. I was soothed over by being told "This is 1964, and mothers don't look old, tired and Right after the Boone closed production, Bethel was offered a script for Fugitive." "I only read as far as the description of the character I was to play. It said she was wearing Capri pants one size too small.

I said 'I'll take When you're Bethel Leslie and stuck playing Bethel Leslie you can have great fun in a role like that. Besides, I'm tired of being told I'm not sexy." Bethel was born in New York City, the daughter of a lawyer and a newspaperwoman. But she says she always wanted to act. "I announced' very early that I was going to be an actress, but I don't know if I would have had the guts to follow through if I hadn't fallen into it." She fell in by jumping in a swimming pool. A friend of her brother's, then a Yale student, had done some acting, so a plot was arranged whereby producer director George Abbott, a family friend, would weekend at Southhampton with the family, and meet the would-be Thespian.

But it was 13-year-old Bethel, busy swimming the length of the pool, who caught his eye. "I was offered a part in the road company of 'Kiss and But I had finally made two friends in school (I was most unpopular in school), and I didn't want to leave, them. Then Mr. Abbott said he was doing a Broadway show and there was a part in that for me. That way I could act and keep my friends." Be'ihel Is totally lacking in actor's ego, perhaps because her family has never been too impressed with her work.

MEET LOVELY Tina Louise, who has left the Broadway hit "Fade Out, Fade In" to be marooo- ed on "Gilligan's Island," a CBS series for next season. Tina Louise Leaves Broadway Hit For TV Series By HARVEY PACK NEW YORK One of highly touted new comedy shows for next season is little epic called Island," created by writer producer Sherwood Schwartz, known affectionately in Hollywood comedy circles as Robin Hood's rabbi- Schwartz's idea of a good escapist comedy plot is to have fishing party containing seven characters marooned on an uninhabited island, and then chronicle their hilarious adventures for 39 weeks with options for many years of the same. A pilot film was made and it featured regulars Jim Backus, Bob Denver (Maynard Krebs of "Dobie Alan Hale, Natalie Schafer. Dawn, Wells Russell Johnson, but even after the show was sold the producer and the network knew that another character was needed to make the show more attractive to male viewers. Names of sexy actresses were thrown around the conference room, and doctors observed the reactions of all the men as the roS call of beauty was called.

At the sound of the name Tina Louise even the doctors forgot their mission and Tina, without an audition, became the seventh regular member of the "Gilligan's Island" cast. It's a tough break for New York to be losing Tina to the Hollywood scene, but, things being what they are the city doesn't mind getting rid of traffic stoppers and we've decided to let Miss Louise tie up the Los Angeles freeways for the next year or so. "I know we're going to be up against Lawrence Welk," she said the other day. "And we're going to win." This declaration of war against Mr. Welk kills forever any chance Tina might have had of becoming a Lennon Sister.

Onlp a few weeks ago. Tina opened on Broadway in a new musical hit called "Fade Out, Fade In." starring TV's own Carol Burnett. Ironically, the plot of the show calls for a movie producer to spot a beautiful doll in the chorus of a show and ship her to Hollywood. He spots Tina, but there's a mix-up and Burnett heads west. Now, as Tina pointed out, she's going to Hollywood while poor Carol must stay here in New York simply starring in a Broadway show.

Tina has lived in Hollywood before and has made several movies. It was gratifying to learn that she fears no let up in her dating activities simply because she's moving west. This cheered me up considerably because I always thought that when a girl is uprooted and moves far away it takes her some time to get back into the social whirl. ''I have a lot of friends in California," she smiled while the ice in the drinks melted, "and I'm sure they still remember me." This is Tina's first TV series and she's very excited about it. "No matter what I've ever done in showbusiness," she said, "nothing has brought me as much recognition as a TV guest shot.

Once, after a show, a shopkeeper didn't cash my check because he collected celebrity signatures on checks. And that's a big compliment well as a saving." In any event. Tina has fade4 out of New York and faded Hollywood and "Gilligan's Laland." Jim Backus, the star of "Gif- ligan's Island" on CBS as welt as the voice of Mr. Alagoo oa the new NBC series featuring the nearsighted gentleman one of the funniest men in the business and according Backus, so take it with a very big grain of salt he mitjht still be working as aradio announcer in Cleveland if it hadfl't (Continued on TV Paae.