RAY MILLAND

"Take Me Along" is a musical based on "Ah, Wilderness" by Eugene O'Neill and we had Ray Milland in the starring role at the Meadowbrook.   I was also in the production and had my own number near the end of Act I.  It was called "Pleasant Little Beach House" and I don't remember a bit of it.


Early in the run, I asked Mr. Milland for an autographed photo.   He told me that he didn't have any with him and apologized for this oversight.

There was a store in the West 40's named  The Movie Memory Shop that specialized in photos of celebrities.   They sold them to various outlets who needed the latest headshot or a scene from a film.  Upon my visit to the shop in hopes of obtaining a pic of Mr. Milland, the best they could come up with were some shots from movies he had been in.    (And I do regret that I never asked him about Hitchcock and "Dial M For Murder.")   So, since he had won the Oscar for playing an alcoholic in "The Lost Weekend," I opted for a still from that flick.    I took it to the theater the next night and he graciously signed it, displaying the wonderful sense of humor that he had. The inscription reads "LaRue, Let this be a lesson.  Ray Milland." A truly wonderful human being.











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