I Grew Up Slowly By Jack Holland "Certainly I've grown up slowly -- and normally. I wouldn't want it any other way. It's Joan Leslie speaking. "I suppose I'll sound just too goody-goody, but I can't see why a girl can't grow up slowly in Hollywood. After all, if she wants to, she can lead as sane and normal a life here as anywhere. "I've never wanted to race ahead of my years," Joan went on. "Being young is too much fun. If you try to experience too much when you're young, chances are the future will be very dull. And I never want to get to the point where I'll find each day tiresome. "It's true, I've never pushed myself ahead. My breaks came through luck, not because I went out and fought for them. What else could you call it but luck when I was handed leads opposite Jimmy Cagney and Gary Cooper at the start of my career?" Joan was fifteen when she started in pictures and was given older parts almost at once. Yet she was always conscious of the fact that she was still a youngster. This didn't bother her, but several top actors were disconcerted, to say the least, when after a love scene Joan would grab her books and trot merrily off to school. "Now that I'm twenty-one," Joan sighed, "I admit the tables are occasionally turned on me. Lately, when I try to express my ideas on wardrobe or roles, the producers, always charming, will pat me on the shoulder and say, 'That's my little Joanie!' Because I've acted my age, it's difficult to make anyone believe I'm not in pigtails any more. "As an actress, I was always treated as a grown-up," Joan continued. "Otherwise, I was just a little girl to everyone. It was this latter that made me lose a couple of good parts. "I was very anxious to do a role in the Constant Nymph, and it seemed all set. When I went to see the director, Edmund Goulding, he hemmed and hawed and then said, 'Somehow, Joanie, I just can't see you in the part. Maybe it's because, so much of the time, I see you bicycling around the lot with an apple in your mouth.' "The same thing happened when I wanted to play Bessie in The Corn Is Green. "Neither time did I go to bat and fight for the chance, reminding people that I'd played older parts before. I've always felt that it's best to take it easy and wait for the right opportunity." Joan's formula for success, in her own words, is "to be patient and to prepare for the chances that will come," and there is plenty of evidence on hand that it works. During the first two years she was in Hollywood, when she went from studio to studio for a part, she always managed to leave a portion of the day for study. And she's still studying. Ballet, for one thing, to be ready to play a role that she's had her eye on for a long time -- that of Marilyn Miller. But an important part of her program is to build and prepare for a full life, as well as a full career, so Joan took a course in psychology to acquire a better understanding of herself and people. It is this attitude that makes Joan stand out in Hollywood. She is one of the few stars who has never had a suspension or layoff. And she's been with one studio -- Warners' -- for five years. That's a record! It also proves how busy she has been. At present, for instance, she's piled up several unreleased pictures, among them, Cinderella Jones and Janie Gets Married. They may be out by the time you read this. "Maybe I'm at the turning point in my career as well as in my personal life now," Joan remarked. "A numerologist I know said I'd spent the last year preparing. According to him, this year decides whether I'm a king or a fool. Then I'll know how right my idea of growing up has been." Joan has been so serious about her career that she has gone in for few of the things many Hollywood girls find intriguing. Nothing is allowed to interfere with her work. The "hurry up and age system," as she puts it, just doesn't fit into her scheme. People are forever advising her to get out on her own, rent an apartment, be independent. Independence can often mean just plain loneliness and Joan's not having any, thank you. Nor does she itch to be a sophisticate, wear sheer black gowns and drip with make-up. She thinks she'd look silly that way. "Some girls think they've grown up when they leave home, but the trouble is that too many leave before they're old or wise enough to meet problems by themselves. Perhaps the reason I never wanted to leave home was because my parents filled it with such wonderful companionship and respect. When my morale needed boosting, they boosted -- if I got too cocky, they'd knock the props out from under me. And for honest advice and sincere help, there's no place like home!" In matters of dates and nightclubbing, Joan has been something of an oddity to film-folk. Few people can understand her complete lack of interest in dating or in Hollywood social life. It isn't that she doesn't like boys. It's just that she has her own ideas on the matter. "I've stayed away from dates until recently simply because dating involves going out to nightclubs and other typical social 'musts.' I don't want that kind of a life. And I don't believe that a girl who wants to make a success of her career can go out every night -- at least I can't. "So suppose you have me pegged as a worker -- period. Well, you're wrong. I have as much fun as the next person. I have small parties for my friends at home. I like to go on picnics. I love sports -- especially badminton. I love the movies. For me, that's plenty of relaxation. This may not be the modern idea of growing up but I take my fun as I see it." In matters of romance, well, The Guy just hasn't come along yet. It's simple: when he does, then she gets married. She'll have no part of those gossip-column love affairs. In one respect, however, Joan feels that she has grown up fast. "I've had to develop my own judgement to be able to know what is right for me. I've also learned that I must assume responsibilities. Before, Mother and the studio took care of them for me, but little by little Mother has given me my share. That is a part of growing up. It has come gradually to me, just as has everything else in my life." Favorite Joan Leslie Film Select your favorite Joan Leslie film here. High Sierra The Great Mr. Nobody The Wagons Roll at Night Sergeant York The Male Animal Yankee Doodle Dandy The Hard Way This Is the Army The Sky's the Limit Thank Your Lucky Stars Hollywood Canteen Where Do We Go From Here? Rhapsody in Blue Too Young to Know Cinderella Jones Two Guys from Milwaukee Repeat Performance Northwest Stampede The Skipper Surprised His Wife Man in the Saddle The Woman They Almost Lynched Flight Nurse Jubilee Trail Hell's Outpost Other Current Results [Sign My Guestbook] [View My Guestbook]