Independent Star-News from Pasadena, California • Page 58

STEVE JAMES MCQUEEN GARNER end WILLARD WATERMAN mm MARTIN SAMMY DlftfBStt. PETCRLWFORD OCEANS 11 TECHNICOLOR 1 PANAVISION 1 3 1 6 It A A IT Week Dnyi 6:45. Sol. I Sun. 1 PAUl NEWMAN "HUD" 3:15 7:05 10:55 and ROCK HUDSON "A Gathering of Eagles" 1:15 5:05 5:05 A Pro in Evoking Stitches Klik Douglas Mini Gaynor-GIg Young "FOR LOVE OR MONEY" K1H Wl WOTS 1W KOtTti eiElii HBSS.

By Russ LcadabniiKl 1IRRR IS a scene in "How lo Succeed In Business Without Really Trying," where Willard Waterman, who portrays I ho co-starring character of J. B. Biggley, knits. i i lev business tycoon 13igglcy is a form of relaxation. Tt wouH be simple enough for Waterman to fake' the knitting sequence, lo protend to be knUliiiR.

But show author Aba Burrows thought It would KC a'good touch if Waterman a a knitted and so ho decs. Three stitches per performance. It sounds like small progress but already i the nlmost-a- ycnr run oC the national company of "How to Succeed the "thing" that Wulerman i hail out of hand, much too long, and has had lo be unraveled: This srr.nll touch of verisimilitude adds lo the success of the musical and the man who puts across Is an old hand at just that--putting the play across. Willard Waterman, veteran.of. radio, television, motion picture and the stage, belongs to that elite fraternity oi show business known as the "character actor." 'IN "HOW TO which opens at the Pasadena Civic Aud'tqrium tomorrow night for a 10-day run, Waterman handle." the stellar character i-ola of the blustering, inlaw-bcset president of World Wide Wickets with easy skill.

People who have known the actor for many years were at first surprised to find him singing in the musical, "I almost got my start in show business singingi" Waterman recalls. "I was part of a quartet, we sang musical interludes between programs on WIBA Madison, Wisconsin." Radio college productions were the beginning in the trade for Waterman who left high school with a determination to become an engineer. By the ho had entered college short summer later, all that was changed. He aimed for a theatrical profession. The three months that made the difference saw Waterman in summer steck, plausible pitfall along the road of any budding Courses ir.

the drama department of the University oi Wisconsin, and work as staff announcer on Hie college radio stalitr. prepared Waterman i radio work at WIBA in Mrdison, an ultimate I The WASHINGTON Theatre JUS Washington at I.afce SV 1-4140. UccorUcdl Call Tliealcr for Tlnifs Now Showing 2 GREAT HITS! 7 DAYS ONLY scaled by the npslart Finch, you'll with his problems (one Delroit executive watched Bigglcy at war with his problems and whispered to his seat companion "I'm glad I'm and you'll generally appreciate the acting skill of one ol the bus-; incss's accomplished veterans. Waterman, on stage, will be enjoying the role along with you. A golfinc addict he even likes Bigglcy's penchant lor golfing.

With a booming voice and an enormous flair for comedy, Willard Waterman is one the main reasons the current production of "Mow to Succeed succeeds. Right clown to those three nightly knitting stitches you'll have as much fun with them as Waterman docs. You've seldom seen three stitches knitted with such attention anil aplomb. Willard Watermen, co-sianring in "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying," in the role of J. B.

Biggley, blustering business tycoon, knits stitches--three a performance--contributing this nice touch plus his easy skill as a character actor to keeping Hie audience in stitches. contract with NBC some of. his more important theatrical assignments. UAL PEARY, the first Great Gildcrsleevc, was a buddy of Waterman's at NBC. When Peary bowed out of the long-running radio show of Gihlcrsleeve, it was.

the similarity in the timbre of the two men's voices that brought Waterman lo the role. Waterman was the radio Gilderslcevc from 1350 to 1058, starred in the TV version one season. In the meanwhile Peary made a couple of Gilderslecve movies. A mixture of the old Gildersleeve movies and the old Gildersleeve TV show, with Wa- tcrman and Peary both as the main character, has confused video fans for months. "It reached a kind of insane climax the day we both 'made public appearances in the same town," Waterman recalls.

Waterman has found himself in a number of TV roles in recent years. Among those that he enjoyed more than average were dramatic parts in a number of "Wagon Train" sequences. In addition he played a running part in the "Dennis the Jlcnace" show. Sandwiched in between were solid parts in "The Apartment," "Auntie Mame," and the yet to Ve shown "Mad, Mad, Ufad World," due for November release. Last year," while in Hollywood, Cy Feucr interviewed Waterman on the possibility ol the actor's playing Bigglcy in the national company of "How to Succeed then taking shape in New York.

Waterman sang lor Feuer, later read from the east and met the rest of the show's executives and got the job. The show has toured across the country since its opening the first oi last year, goes from rusauena to Dallas for a few weeks and then to Chicago for an extended run-14 months. It will play Washington, D.C., after that so Waterman will be able to knit many feet on the yarn "thing" in the meanwhile, even at three stitches a night. "ALWAYS TWO DIG FEATURES CINDY CAROL JAMES DARREN "GIDGET GOES TO ROME" AND -MIGHTIEST ADVENTURE OF THE AGES "Jason and the Argonaufs A A COLOR AFTER THAT? Waterman would like to find himself a homo in another Broadway show. Not nencessarily a mu- show.

Not necessarily a mu- although comedy and Willard Waterman go together like Niagara and Falls. You'll sec Willard Waterman at his comic best when you catch "How to Succeed He is the blustering, inlaw- bcset J. B. Biggley, who comes with a whisper of being mi- ST G-9704 SY C-7861 25RS E. COr.OHi\DO n.O.

6:45 DAII.Y--SAT., 12 NOON Held Oucr 4lh Great Week MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY BRODERIC CRAWFORD "Square of Violence" NEW SHOW TODAY am: IIKST OF TM BURLESQUE the UMD8APEO PASADE OF CftPTIVrHING CURVACEOUS COMELY GIRLS NUDIE CUTIES A I.T "ri N. A 1 I.