回复：【长篇阅读】公子的传记

Both beautiful and broke, she was one of the most ambitious models discovered in Germany since the war.
Her modeling career began in the fall of 1950 when she was looking for a job as an actress in Munich. Lore Wolff, fashion editor for the U. S.-sponsored magazine Heute, caught a glance of her in a passing car and ran after the automobile.
She was asked if she would like to pose for an article on artificial pearls, and Ursula said she would.
Lore Wolff claimed what most impressed her about Ursula was her look of “sweet irony,” and kept her on as a model. The job paid very little, however, and Ursula accepted a small role in a German production of The Women.

On April 24, 1952, her agent invited her out to dinner at the Coconut Grove with him, his wife and a blind date—RobertTaylor.
Bob called her the next day and many dates followed. They were seen in public often, making the usual night club scene, mainly for Ursula’s benefit as an up-and-coming Hollywood actress.
Just as suddenly as they entered it, they were no longer part of the social whirl.
Ursula surprised Taylor one night by suggesting they dine in her tiny apartment. She had prepared German pancakes, and from then on their evenings were spent at her home.
Taylor was captivated by Ursula’s ability in the kitchen. He said she didn’t strike him as the “homey” type and it took a while to be convinced she was “for real.”

He told reporters many months later that while they were scouting the night clubs for him and “the beautiful Germangirl,” he was enjoying Ursula’s home-cooking.
When asked about marriage Taylor said, “Of course I want to get married again. I don’t know when or to whom, but it would be a dismal prospect to be a bachelor for the rest of my life!”
One of the newsmen casually mentioned the euphonic name of Ursula Thiess: “Are you betrothed?”
“No, definitely not!” Taylor replied, but he talked about her anyway. “Ursula is truly lovely. She has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. They’re brown with specks of gold. And her lashes are at least a half inch long—I’m not exaggerating!”
“How do you feel, Bob, being seen with agirl who is prettier than you are?”
“You boys must be new in the business. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to say anything about my being pretty?”

She admitted that she made a point of avoiding him. He had never mentioned marriage and seemed quite content with their “arrangement.”
Ursula, on the other hand, was not overly interested in her career except for the money which she needed to support herself and the children. Micheal, her seven-year-old son, was staying in Germany, but she still felt obligated to send money to her mother for his living expenses.
She was a woman who needed little since she had been brought up with few clothes and no luxuries. However she was going to make a better life for her children and preferred marriage to a career.
Under her seven-year RKO contract she was earning ＄2,300 a month, and though this financial state afforded her whatever she required, it did not offer stability or security.

Ursula was sophisticated enough to know that Hollywood was fickle. She was not impressed. More important, she was in love with Taylor, but decided if he would not marry her, she would find someone who would.
Bob, though seeing other women occasionally, including Barbara, was satisfied with Ursula as a woman. He admitted he could not ask for more, but “getting hitched” was something else.
Ruth, of course, did not like Ursula. Her excuse this time was the two children. “I hope you realize, son, that you are still paying Barbara 15 per cent of everything you earn. Are you still seeing her?”
Bob said he did see Barbara once in a while because he liked her but there was no chance of his going back to her.

Ruth commented, over her knitting, that she had overheard him calling “that German woman,” but that she never returned his calls and why was he chasing her?
Taylor replied that to chase a woman properly was expensive: money for flowers, jewelry and nightclubs. If he spent too much money, he would probably go broke, and if he went broke . . . “Well, you know where we’d end up?”
Ruth asked, “Where, son, back in Nebraska?”
Taylor laughed, kissed her forehead and said teasingly, “No, Mother, your favorite place—the poorhouse!”

Before Taylor left for Egypt to make Valley of the Kings, he called Ursula to tell her he was leaving. She said, “That’s nice. Good bye!” and hung up.
Eleanor Parker was Bob’s co-star in Valley of the Kings and still very much infatuated with him. She was obvious about her strong feelings for Taylor, and though he had Ursula in his blood, he returned Miss Parker’s affection.
All of his letters to Ursula went unanswered.
While in Egypt there was an article about him in the newspapers there that was also was printed in the United States:
CAIRO JANUARY 2, 1954 EGYPTIAN EDITOR
TUT-TUTS GALS FOR DROOLING OVER
BOB TAYLOR

“Columnist Mamoud Abdel Moneim in the newspaper AL Misri complained Saturday that Egyptian women have been acting strangely since American actor Robert Taylor arrived here.
“They have found excuses to knock at his door. They reserve restaurant tables next to his, they pretend they are journalists to attend his news conferences. They have been observed making provocative gestures with cigarettes, dropping them from their lips, trying by any means to attract his attention.
“WHAT WILL BOBERT TAYLOR THINK?”
“WILL HE THINK THERE ARE ONLY FIGHTY WOMEN IN EGYPT?”
“Are there no men to keep them in check?” (New York Daily Mirror, January 3, 1954.)

When the film was completed, Taylor left Egypt, his romance with EleanorParker in limbo. The day he arrived back in Hollywood he called Ursula, but she refused to see him.
He was so frustrated, he went out and purchased a star-studded engagement ring, but was afraid to give it to her. He wrote to Tom Purvis—what should he do? Tom replied, “I’m the last guy to tell you what to do, Dilly.”
Taylor held on to the ring and applied himself to his role in Rogue Cop with Janet Leigh. He handled the tough-guy role with ease and never sneered more broadly or hit harder than necessary. Perhaps his cold determination as the crooked cop was a result of his dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems in his personal life.
On the set he was approached by a reporter who had seen Taylor at a party with Barbara Stanwyck and wanted to know if there was a chance of a reconciliation.

Taylor hissed. “I wasn’t with her. I just dropped by for a few minutes and she happened to be there. That’s all. Why don’t you bug off, for Christ’s sake?”
However, the reporter wasn’t so easily dismissed. “Whatever happened to Ursula whatever her name is?”
“I don’t give a good God damn, really. She’s a nice girl . . . ”
“Man to man, Taylor, she’s a beautiful woman—and available. Is she seeing anyone else?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Taylor walked back to his place on the set of Rogue Cop with a scowl on his face. It never occurred to him that Ursula might be going out with other men.

He went home and looked at the engagement ring again, but put it back in the drawer. At this point he feared rejection and if Ursula refused him he could only blame himself. He picked up the phone and dialed her number.
“Can I see you tonight?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Just for a few minutes. I have something I’d like to show you.”
“Sorry, I have guests for dinner.”
“A man?”
“No, a couple of friends.”
“It will only take a minute.”

Ursula agreed, but insisted he was to stay for just a little while. Later Ursula said, “You might say I played a little trick on Bob. I took a big chance, I know, but since he didn’t appear to have serious intentions, I had made up my mind to ignore his calls until he proposed. I can assure you, this was the only trick I ever played on him!”
Taylor arrived at her house but refused dinner. He sat and pouted, tapping his shoe nervously. Ursula was a charming hostess to her friends and took her time serving dinner, ignoring Bob in general.
He fiddled with a cup of coffee, smoked a pack of cigarettes and chewed on his bottom lip. Just about the time he began to turn green, the other guests took the hint and said they had to leave. By the time they reached home, their telephone was ringing.
It was Ursula. “I’ve accepted a ring from Bob. We’re engaged!”

The announcement was made on April 30,1954. Taylor told the press again to pronounce Ursula’s last name correctly and said they had no marriage plans.
His close friends laughed. “Who does he think he’s kidding? He’s building a house in Pacific Palisades big enough for a family and he says the place will be his bachelor quarters. Taylor never could tell a convincing lie.”
Ruth was overwrought. “You can’t marry a woman with two children. You’ll be ruined for sure this time and you’ll drag us all down with you. What am I going to do?”
As with Barbara when he married her, Bob assured his mother that he would continue to support her and nothing would change, but Ruth told him this was different and that Ursula’s two children would be a heavy burden on him financially.

“Maybe I’ll marry John,” she said.
John was a man Ruth had been seeing for several months, but Bob had been paying for their dates—dinners, the theatre,cab fare, etc. When she announced her plans, Taylor said he thought it was a fine idea, but made it clear if she married John, he would not support him, too.
Ruth was positive her son would go bankrupt and assured him that John had proposed many times but now she had no choice but to accept. It was her last chance, and if Bob would not be able to take care of her, then John would!
However, when she approached John about it—telling him that Bob was apparently going to get married and would not be able to support her anymore—he left her and she never saw him again!
Ruth continued to brag about the many marriage proposals she had gotten from John, but she could never explain his sudden disappearance.
Taylor wrote to Tom again asking for advice about whether or not he should “go all the way” with Ursula. And again Tom said he’d rather stay out of it.
But Tom said he wasn’t surprised when Bob called him one evening. “I’m gettin’ married, ol bud. Headin’ out in the morning. Keep it under yer hat till you hear from me!”

On May 24, 1954, just three weeks following their engagement, Ursula and Bob boarded his plane at 4:00 A.M. –giving their friends Ralph Couser and Ivy Mooring, only twenty-fours' notice. They flew to Jackson Lake, Wyoming, where a cabin cruiser and minister were waiting.
The group sailed out to the middle of thelake and they were married. No one except Tom knew about their elopement and Taylor made sure he would have complete privacy by planning the wedding as he did.
It was very casual, though Taylor and Couser wore business suits. Ursula and her close friend, Ivy, exchanged clothing—each ending up with the other’s shoes and slips. The informal wedding pictures show Ursula with polka-dotted shoes and Ivy with the underskirt that matched the wedding slippers.
After they drank a bottle of champagne in the middle of the lake, the cruiser docked for the night and around twelve o’clockTaylor called his press agent in Hollywood—too late for the morning edition.
The next day the newlyweds flew to Cloverdale, California, where Bob was scheduled to flim Many river to Cross.