TAUBER WEDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22468, 11 July 1936, Page 24

TAUBER WEDS

romance of actress A CHANCE MEETING GIRL WHO KNEW POVERTY [from a special correspondent] LONDON. Juno G Miss Diana Napier, 23-year-old British film actress, who, only two years ago, was "struggling ami starving," as a film extra, will bo married on Saturday, .Tune 20, to Mr. Richard Tauber, the famous Viennese operatic singer and composer. " You Are My Heart's Delight" lie sang, and took the world by storm. And here is Miss Napier's account of how ho won her heart and she his: " When I first met Richard Tauber, only 14 months ago, my ignorance was appalling. He was a great, dazzling star and I was only a poor girl who had never even heard him sing. This revelation will answer the people who say that I was carried away by his voice and the glamour of his fame. v " That we ever came to meet, much more to marry, is almost a miracle, lb will be my second marriage. When 1 was 18 I told my parents —fine, rospectable Yorkshire people —that 1 wanted to go on the stage. They were shocked. But worse was to como when they learned that 1 had married an actor. It was stage glamour that caught me that time.

" And soon tho glamour faded. Then | began my strugglo to get a foothold on the ladder of film and stage success. 1 literally starved for the sako of art. Poverty was often my lot. I jieddled women's clothes from door to door. I busked in seaside minstrel shows. I tried to write romantic stories for cheap magazines. I became a film extra at a guinea a day—sorao days. 'Broke,' 1 rented a furnished country cottage, and took in boarders, most of whom turned out to bo as ' broke ' as myself. " I shared diggings with a taxicab driver and his wife, and with a miner and his wife and four children. 'lt seemed that penury and debt were always to be my fate; when suddenly my luck changed. 'Alexander Korda, the famous film producer, saw a photograph of me that had been re-touched by a master craftsman in the art of flattery, and gave me a part in one of his early films. I first saw Tauber in tho audience at a performance of La Boheme in London. Our eyes mot and ho smiled. I turned to a girl who was with me and asked, 'Who is tho fab man with the nice smile P ' "After the performance wo were introduced. That was the prosaic beginning to our glorious romanco. After that we found ourselves more and inoro together. 1 began to look forward to our meetings. I soon found myself forgetting that ho was a great star and admiring him as a man. lichind his wealth and fame was a wonderful spirit of understanding, deeprooted kindness and a delightful and infectious sense of humour. I fell in love with that personality, and now all that matters to lis is our love. " When Richard announced our engagement I made ono decision. Richard's career must come first, if our marriage is to bo successful."

A cablegram from London, dated June 21, announced that the wedding had taken place at a London registry office.