Has Hollywood Changed Bobby Rydell? What do YOU think? Read this article and decide for yourself! by Gloria Stavers 16 Magazine October, 1962 Hollywood, U.S.A, is probably one of the most exciting and glamorous cities in the whole wide world. It is famous for its beautiful homes, beautiful boulevards and beautiful stars. But it is also famous for taking talented youngsters and changing them into stuck-up, conceited, balloon-headed bores. Many a young show-business personality has been known to hit Hollywood wide-eyed and glowing with a combination of innocence and ambition, only to emerge from some famous movie studio a few weeks later a completely changed person. Going "Hollywood" is the term that is used to describe those stars who get cocky, sneer at their fans, refuse to co-operate with the press and, in general, begin to act as though they were the greatest thing to ever hit celluloid. Could this happen to Bobby Rydell? For several years Bobby has enjoyed an outstanding reputation of being one of the most uncomplicated and friendliest performers on the 'teen scene. In fact, Bobby is so full of warmth and laughter that it is difficult to find a picture of him without a big smile on his face. Bobby, who has traveled all over the world, has always been close to his parents and his home in Philadelphia. While other young stars were spending their first hard-earned money to buy beautiful houses in the suburbs, Bobby and his folks were deciding to stay put in the small row-house they've lived in for the past 20 years. "We just couldn't move away from here," Jennie Ridarelli, Bobby's adorable mom says. "All our friends live near us. We're really comfortable here. This is our home. It's just that simple." But now, for the first time, Bobby Rydell has been uprooted from his home in every sense of the word. He has "moved to Hollywood" to do Bye, Bye Byrdie and to work on his proposed TV series. When he first left home, Bobby figured it would be for six or eight weeks, but the weeks have stretched into months and now it looks like Bobby will be lucky if he gets back home for Christmas. What is happening to Bobby Rydell in Hollywood? Where does he live? How does he spend his days -- and nights? Find the answer to those questions and you'll find out if Bobby Rydell is "Changing" -- or he's still the same wonderful boy he was when he arrived in Hollywood a five months ago. Since the best way to get the facts has always been to go to the source -- that is exactly what 16 Magazine has done. We spoke to Bobby himself -- and here is what he had to say about his life in Hollywood: "I don't know where to begin. It's all very exciting -- and very interesting, too. I've been here before, but never like this! My first day on the Columbia set was like a childhood dream come true. I just sat there gawking while Janet Leigh and Dick Van Dyke went through one of their big numbers. The next day we kept rehearsing a crowd scene over and over again. Jesse Pearson, who plays Conrad Byrdie, is getting the key to the city, and I was in the crowd. When we finally shot it, it seemed to be over in no time. Then there I was standing on the sides again -- watching the others work. As I looked around at the stars, the camera, the crew, the stages -- I just kept saying over and over to myself: What am I doing here? Me -- Robert Ridarelli, a kid from Philly, standing right in the middle of a big Hollywood studio? "I was scared -- but fascinated. "Frankie Day, my manager, and I rented a furnished two-bedroom apartment in a building that has a pool in the back. Right away we tackled the important task of feeding ourselves. I figured I'd really do the whole thing up right, and I found this Italian grocery store in our neighborhood and bought a lot of stuff to make a real dinner. Let me tell you, I didn't even get to first base. I mixed everything up! The pasta boiled over and stuck to the pot, the sauce looked like a bad dream, and I burned the bread. "'Hey, Bob,' Frankie finally said to me, 'I've taken about as much of your domestication as I can. Couldn't we just call up a delicatessen or something?' "Needless to say, that's precisely what we did. But I wasn't defeated. I have actually learned to serve up a perfect frozen TV dinner, and I make a great 'cold cut' luncheon out of cheese, baloney, tomatoes and rye bread. "Actually, the only time I have to try my hand at cooking is over weekends. During the week I get up at 6 a.m. and am on the set by 7. Then the make-up man goes to work on me. He puts dark tan make-up on me, but I'm not allowed to get a suntan because the picture is in color! You figure it out -- I can't. Every day something really interesting happens. I'll never forget the day Janet Leigh came over to me while I was sitting in a corner going over my lines for the day's shooting. "'Need some help, Bobby?' she asked me. And while I did triple-takes she sat down and went over my script. Then she proceeded to give me several invaluable tips and wound up reading with me to make sure I had my lines down. When you work with people like that, how can you be anything but grateful and delighted! "There have been a lot of rumors about me dating Ann-margret. Do you know that so far I haven't had a single date with her? She is really a terrific girl. She is lovely, friendly, and has a great sense of humor. If I get up the nerve, and if she'll say O.K., I certainly will take her out. I like her, but that's all there is to it. I hope that the rumors don't get out of hand and make this friendship look like a big romance. "My evenings have been pretty quiet in Hollywood. At first, I used to come home dog-tired around 6 p.m. I'd take a fast dip in the pool, and then Frank and i would go through the comedy and get something for dinner. After dinner, I'd either write home or call up mom and dad (dad eventually joined me out here when Frank went home for awhile); then I'd go over my lines or else look at TV. But after being in town awhile, I made a couple of friends and found some new interests. "First of all, I became completely caught up in 'movie-making.' I got a movie camera, and then Johnny Darren (Jimmy's brother), who is my stand-in in Birdie, got together a bunch of floodlights, and we started making our own movie. Soon, we were joined by an old friend of mine from Connecticut, Tom Vater. Tom recently moved to Los Angeles. The first 'movie' we did was a murder mystery on the order of Psycho. We were terribly serious about the whole thing, and had what we had hoped would be some real snazzy 'special effects.' "Well, we finally finished, and then had a premiere for my dad and a couple of other friends. You know what? They laughed through the whole thing. I kept saying to my dad, 'Hey, this isn't a comedy -- it's a murder!' "'It sure is murder!" Dad agreed, and kept on laughing. "Oh, well, that's show business -- as they say.
"Doing Birdie is not the only work I'm involved in out here now. I have started doing some hops for the local deejays and I just love these California kids. Their wonderful acceptance of me has helped to take the edge off my 'homesickness' for the good old rock and roll shows. I also am taping some TV appearances, and these include three for Red Skelton, and one each for Danny Thomas and Tennesse Ernie Ford. I have done several benefits and plan to do several more. "I almost forgot to tell you about my adventure at the laundromat the other day. I decided to be thrifty and take the sheets and pillowcases down the street and do them myself. Since I'm not exactly the six-foot-two football player type, I must have looked pretty silly peeping out from behind my bundle of dirty clothes. But I made it to the laundromat and proceeded to do all the things the instructions said. For some reason the guy in charge let me alone, and you can guess what happened. I put in too much soap suds! When the machine began to boil over, I stood stunned by the whole ghastly scene. "A girl at the next machine took one look and my face and came to my rescue. Somehow, we cleaned up the mess and she helped me do the laundry right. While all this was going on she hardly spoke to me. She just looked at me once in awhile, like I was some kinds nut. Anyway, when we got through, she handed me my clean laundry and I thanked her for her help. "'Aren't you Bobby Rydell?' she asked me with a slight frown. "'Yes,' I admitted. "'Well, honey,' she said with a sigh, 'Why don't you just stick to your singing and acting -- and stay away from laundry machines?' "Let me tell you, I sure followed her instructions!"
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