The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 89

Wednesday, June 13. 1984Part VI 7 Cos Anflele Craea you had Just finished and somebody in a wonderful little office was writing the next one. Suddenly she interrupted herself, in a star's tone of voice "Now do ask me something about my (swimming) tape, because it's very important Going back over the past. I get that feeling of fatigue sometimes. Nostalgia is not my number.

IT had been a part of all that But for seven yean, straddling the '40s and '50a, ihe had been In the Top 10 box-office list. She has seen her old films, on television and when ahe was on a Mediterranean cruise to recover from Lamas' death, and she's thinking about dropping In at one or two of the UCLA screenings. "I look at that girl, and I like her. I can see why she became popular with audiences. There was an unassuming quality about her.

She was certainly wholesome. "I wouldn't want to be a young actress in films now," Williams continued. "I think of Barbra Streisand in comparison, and what she did with 'YentL' She has to buy the story, has to convince (Isaac Bashevis) Singer that she's the one to play it. she does an absolutely spectacular Job and for some reason she's passed over at the Oscars which was wrong. Now she's got to start all over again with the next project from scratch.

We had that studio with cotton-batting walls. While we were shooting the next film, they were cutting the one liiSibiaiatiwi via1 -lira fM TRJ $1 si a jr jtjYir -a. ms.i BOUNCY BAWDY rsch WoH Award Winning FUN! IffVUf on "A rara mwlf far tfa mind 1 IKKSKID LI Prviwt Tonight A Tomorrow at 6pm. AM Mats $10. OPfNS FRIDAY JUNE 15 for (il-mn Sain (all: Hoaaltr ljurai II 131 MM cmogi Tirvm rHoai TELETHON (213) Li' IE 7r 410-1062 OUNCE COUNTY CALL 5th SMASH MONTH! (714) 634 1300 MHsMMrtusi Ml HM UKMJT MLSA MW lfl)iMUI (WW "A SCREWBALL COMEDY FOR THE MIXED-UP SOS." On Suffra LA, TUItt MUSIC CENTER PAVILION Esther Williams as she appeared in the MGM Technicolor musical "Million Dollar Mermaid" 1952).

ESTHER WILLIAMS: BACK AT POOLSIDE "IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO ENJOY IT." Jac VhrtH, HtHALO IXAMINIK "WILL LEAVE EVERYONE LAUGHING." fsWo. OAtt VARIITY BY CKRtSTOPHER DURANG WINNER! BEST MUSICAL! MUttUM 1M il Mi i IM fin mm mM 211 4SO-12U LTlCORDnUlHtfllflt 386 lUR ClflM U.Cfl 90048 7 TONY AWARDS 1980 CHARGE TICKETS PHOME MUSIC CINTFR i 'UJ M4 7VI i i civic HINT humor, the fun and the chemistry! He was free, but I wasn't so we went our separate ways in spite of all that chemistry- Then we met again on a television special In 1960 in Cypress Gardens. He had married and separated, I was divorced. "He said (after his divorce from Arlene Dahl), 'Let me take you away from all And I said. 'Away from all what? I'm a movie star.

But Lamas convinced her, telling her that she had never "seen the crowned heads of Europe" or experienced "international, marvelous travel," had never been "on her own." When Lamas became ill, Williams' daughter Susie and her husband. Thomas Woodward, who teaches at a Bel-Air preparatory school, moved in with her. At the time, Susie was pregnant with young Tommy, now 13 months old. (All three of Williams' children are by her second husband, Ben Gage, who worked in radio.) Her lawyer is her oldest son, Ben who was an Ail-American water polo player. Her second son, Kim, 33, is a musician, and Susie is at home.

Williams, who does not wish to mention her age, grew up in southwest Los Angeles and learned to swim in the Pacific at the age of 8. Later, she would win national championships. She graduated from George Washington High School and completed a year at USC, but the family was not well off and she had to go to work. On her first job she was discovered by Billy Rose, who put her in his Aquacade, and from there it was a relatively easy jump to MGM. She was to have competed in three events in the 1940 Olympics in Helsinki, but World War II canceled the Games.

That year she met and married her first husband, who was a medical resident Once, during the MGM years, she told an interviewer that she couldn't sing or act and that her movies were put together out of scraps. "I was so smart -aleck in those days. said. "But the actual fact of the matter is you're picked up to do something you never dreamed about that you never yearned for, and then all of a sudden you're in that atmosphere where everyone's so very talented the Spencer Tracys, the Ingrid Bergmans. That lot!" She shook her head, as if still registering disbelief that she Continued from Page 1 "Swim.

Baby. Swim." at $39.95. She's pleased that the cassette, featuring old home movies of her teaching her two sons to swim, as well as footage of daughter Susan teaching Williams' grandson Tommy with the same method, is being distributed by the company (Karl Video Corp.) that marketed the super-successful Jane Fonda workout tapes. (Years ago, in Williams' heyday. Life magazine had a cover billing her as the "Mermaid And she'll be on NBC-TV's 'Today Show" Thursday and Friday, talking about her videocassette.

During the Olympic Games she'll co-hoet the synchronized swimming events for ABC-TV. She's particularly proud of the fact that synchronized swimming, with 25 countries participating, will be part of the Games for the first time an event she quietly worked for. And along with all of this activity, she's an executive with New Century Productions, taking her husband's place "like Muriel Humphrey stepping into her husband's Senate seat" and her first project involves working on a film to star Lamas' son, Lorenzo, of "Falcon Crest" fame. She says she has no regrets about those years behind the scenes. She enjoyed being "a private person," not having to talk "to people like you about what I think and feel, having to reveal parts of myself.

Getting to leave the spotlight 22 years earlier when you're 22 years younger that comparison to yourself when you are younger." She shuddered. Reminded that she chose a different path during the burgeoning women's liberation movement she replied: "You know, for every woman who feels liberated by those books and theories, there are probably five who are so glad to stay home and take care of their husbands. There are many of us who have worked hard for many years, and I call it the 'fruits of your labor' to have somebody who wants you exclusively to himself." Lamas and Williams were married in a civil ceremony in Marbella in the south of Spain in 1962, then lived in Spain and in Rome for several years learned kitchen Spanish and Italian I could buy the They remarried in a church ceremony here seven years later. "He was terrific. Look at that picture of the two of us," she said, pointing to the mantle.

"That's when we made 'Dangerous When Wet together in 1952. The PMVkttW TOMMMfT AT t. Opens tomorrow at 8 p.m. THI AMUHCAM CLOCK A Mural for the Theatre A new version by Arthur Miller West Coast Premiere. In nprrtory with James McLure's WILD OATS A Romance of the Old West World Premiere.

Preview Fri. Opens Sat. at 8. Tkt Stst Tht 0M Tht Btsl Tkt Htw International Circus Stars Clowns Thrills Animals Oaring Flying Trapeze 2 Human Can joins the repertory Aug. 1.

AU3plays nonballs Aerial Motorcycles Norbu. the human gorilla Cannons Hockeis bway. DIP SI Poles and much, mucn more in rep thru Aug. 19. OlMIIWWewiTHM.

Groups 972-7372. Deaf TTY 680-1017. MARK TAPER FORUM 5 RIMS JM NEW never before in circusdom a spec tacular Lazer display a little rock roll Gordon Davidson. Artistic Director I and a lot of new innovations in lighting etiecis. E3 Lmlrr Theatre Group Music Center TUNY AWARD WINNER BEST MUSICAL 19MI staging and spectacular productions Wed.

June 20 thru Sun. July 1 WM Jim. 30 Tu Jun Tim Jun.21 1100am Tu Jun Tim Jun.21 7 30pm Nd Ju" fn JOOpm. WM Ju fn June 77 Tn Ju" M. wizardry.

Ju3 II 00 km SM Juna23 3 30pm SM Ju OOP" Robert Osborne-KTTV fn June 7 3 00 put Fn Jjn 7 pm SM JunaM 1100m Sm JOTP30 3 30pm Sh Jun.30 lOOpm Sun Jutr 1 2O0pm Sun July tOOpm 00 pm .00 pm 2 00pn 7 30 pn Sun JunpM Mon Jww Mo. Jot.29 ptm I tut MM MW.TT UK tj tmm naakMiiiw pm wafx jya iim OHOUP MTU tlVWI Mil ON tAUfc Al Till II null MAT CO tPOWTMAWT MUSICW.US WEINBLATT REFLECTS ON RESIGNATION But there was one question no one bothered to asks "Why?" Wpinhlatt couldn't or wouldn't answer it himself. "It's a question that I don't know I'd want to speculate nn hp Mid Mondav. "You'd have to ask someone else." mm Asked last week about the appointment of Austrian, Viacom President Terrence Elkes reiterated the public intpmpnt nf a month aso that recent growth at the JSt STUDENT RUSH WITH LU 00 SCATS 12 PHCC Ttm. RW, IW.

SM En GMr 9 Mdsjts Ator to rNrtaMnct Qsffft Slstsct tto AwMMRy TONIGHT AT 830 PM aT2iSEr 1-800-762-7666 TkkMt mlUM by null. fHmrKl 4 lk Offlc. OrrU HOI'S-lILT HAM ITM-St'NtM NCMIN (TM 5 Shubert Theatre i-oo-rsi-rM mmimmmmmmm wMWuniiwi tmi -ooo Tfctw Mucin It OstiWs.) company required a stronger top-management team. Austrian's background is in finance ana aaminuirauon. nian haa nmerience setting uD international opera III Af taM Jam U- Uw Tlmam.

HmV UQA IUl H7-C0A- T1 1 il i Wana am. A AflaWpiM mir'f Cm. tions, an area of increasing Importance to American pay-TV firms. couldn't be more Blessed with the strategic my It. Pm WtX Wama.

MM near-term and long-term success since the merger," Elkes insisted. Pnhiiriv at lpani ShowtimeMovie Channel has been UtCITOIACX on a mil wince the Seotember mereer. In December. a M0 THt VKTCWT THaAns Uttlk t4l-4404 aO 3233 Weinblatt and company pulled dual coups, signing a five-year, multimillion-dollar exclusivity deal with Paramount Pictures (the hottest studio in Hollywood) IVtm TKEULPY a a am San. a 7J0 Saa.

Ma. 2O0 and acquiring the remnants of the defunct Spotlight n.v.TV aorviro more than 750.000 new subscribers. Ma ta Oamma tkm. LA. C4fWtktM.4St-.41S The Paramount deal automatically delivered to ShowtimeMovie Channel some of the most successful films coming out of Hollywood: "Flaahdance," "Staying Continued from Page 1 were being announced daily, new cable subscribers were signing up, the press abounded with tales of the wonders cable would soon be offering and Weinblatt and other executives were extolling the creative and financial opportunities of the new medium.

Cable, he said, would let someone stunted by the limits of commercial TV try all of the things that were impossible in the old television. "I still feel the same way," Weinblatt said. "It was an exciting venture, and I'm glad I did it" Surveying his four years, Weinblatt ticked off a list of accomplishments: moving the channel to 24-hour-a-day programming; assembling his management team; last year's merger-, a new emphasis on consumer marketing. Of programs, he listed the popular "Faerie Tale Theatre," the pay-TV revival of "The Paper Chase" and the comedy-variety series "Bizarre." Weinblatt also noted Showtime's commitment to major Broadway plays, especially "A Case of Libel." "I feel real good about some of those shows," he said. As is often the case in show business, the news of Weinblatt's resignation climaxed months of rumors and inside speculation about his fate as the top executive at the country's second-largest pay-TV company.

The talk started as early as March, when it was reported that the parent companies of the pay-TV services Viacom International Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. were searching for a new chairman and chief executive, a position above Weinblatt's. It was said then that Viacom and Warner had offered the job to Frank Biondi, chairman and chief executive of Home Box Office Inc. Last month, the talk passed from rumors to reality when Neil R.

Austrian, a top New York advertising executive, took the ShowtimeMovie Channel chairman's job. Weinblatt was asked to remain at the company but in the No. 2 spot At that point his future became one of pay-TV's primary luncheon topics. Last week in Las Vegas at the convention of the National Cable Television Assa, conversations Inevitably got around to what Weinblatt was going to do. The not-so-official word from ShowtimeMovie Channel officials was that it appeared Weinblatt would stay; he wouldn't talk about it, and as the Hollywood Reporter trade paper noted, there were plenty of jokers around making book on his departure date.

mnoisEis AHv" and. eominf eventually. "Terms of Endear ment" "Footloose" and "Star Trek III. The Search for Taa. Wat Sa.

10, Sam. 7 CX. a Ma (lit) fOS-OtM Cia i. I in (451 Mha 1 Rnnrk WIZARDRY. Shortly after the Paramount and Spotlight deals, the mmranv inat two too executives, the heads of the Koam Oaaaa KTTw 42KB STREET nmmmmlnff and marketing divisions, and the first chinks in ShowtimeMovie Channel's shiny new armor appeared.

Th comnanv seemed to have recovered, however, THE ICE IS Taa. ta. IW a MP, Imv tm. a 7JO. a.

4 tarn. Mam. a MO CAU mi-CHAJIOti SMUMOT TnXArM 3030 Aaaaaa a Man Ut AaamOOa7 after a flurry of programming announcements this spring and new aggressiveness in the selling of the ALKCMU I IVICUCIS. After show the ral After the thow the real MUST CLOSE JUNE 17 Oily Nm LIKE ORE OF TIE FAMILY services to cable systems. In vivid contrast with HBO, ShowtimeMovie Channel has made original series deals with 20th Century 3333 CmWaa IM, VM M.

1 la. MA. Imv Ira. UO-ltM fun begins Ji DOORS OPN TO MtdJfTfl Tk I AT 10:00 PM iiffJ 'i A 0ANCINO 4 Vl 3739 OVCRLAND AVI I A 213302 1150 "ASHtONAKI ATTlIT FINAL 1 WEEKS! "BEST UTS BRILUANTr 'SMuY fmaaaanvT LA. TtHtS Till COLISEUM Tickets: (213) 741-2164 Sponsored lor charity by and the ios juzais mis Fox, Warner Bros, and Paramount ShowtimeMovie Channel's efforts with cable operators have been getting high marks from that end of the business.

There wasn't a lot of enthusiasm generated by the program firms at last week's convention. What little there was came from the ShowtimeMovie Channel crowd. All of that leaves one wondering: If ShowtimeMovie Channel wasn't broken, what needed fixing? SECRET bONOR Ha ua a Bdanl M. Maa Im MOla. M0 I 7 JO lot ANoeui Acroei' twaim.