Hollywood Still Attracts Young

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30808, 21 July 1965, Page 2

Hollywood Still Attracts Young

“The average period for a telephone hook-up in Hollywood is 28 days and this gives an indication of the transience of the population there,” said Mrs Mary Lou Kendall in Christchurch last evening.

Young people poured into Hollywood from all parts of the United States to make a name in the entertainment industry, install a telephone to be contacted for work, but few made the grade, she said. Mrs Kendall is the wife of Dr. Charles Kendall, minister of the First Methodist Church of Hollywood. One of her particular welfare interests is the Studio Club, a residence for young actresses who are looking for work in the entertainment field.

“They are allowed to live there for up to two years, or until they begin to make their way in a job,” she said. “It is a home away from home.” As the movie industry spread away from Hollywood through Southern California, the film city had now become a television and recording centre and was taking the place of New York in Little Theatre and concert work.

Anti-Poverty Campaign As secretary of the Y.W.C.A. of Los Angeles, Mrs Kendall has been taking part in a £2.000,000 project for President Johnson’s anti-poverty campaign. “We are helping train young women from underprivileged areas to fit

themselves for taking jobs In production,” she said. As a minister’s wife, Mrs Kendall describes herself facetiously as “a general flunkey who looks after the edges.” Their church with its fine Gothic tower has appeared in many films, including “Imitation of Life” and “One Foot in Heaven.” “We often see interior and exterior shots of it in a film,” she said. “The tower is very photogenic.”

The church is in downtown Hollywood and does not include many film stars in its congregation. “They go to a church near their homes in the suburbs,” she said. “But when Robert Taylor lived near he was a member of our church and Maurice Dallimore. who has a prominent part in the new film "The Collector,’ is an usher. Another member is Angelo Resettio. the smallest man in Hollywood, who is only 3ft tall.” Dr. and Mrs Kendall take a party on tour for a month's .vacation every' summer. In this year’s tour —“Let’s See the South Pacific”—there are 24 in the party. Next year they intend to visit Scandinavia and the Soviet Union.