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"I didn't realize," said Barbara last week, "how much I had missed New York." With her play set for a long run, and a seven-month contract guaranteeing her 10% of the box-office take (a figure topped only by such stars as Bankhead and Lawrence), she had time at last to spend long hours with her daughter Susan. The marriage which had been foundering on the shoals of Hollywood was ending in amicable divorce. Barbara had taken a two-year lease on a house in the East 80s, and was busy furnishing it. There were romantic and practical plans in the offing with a young stage director named Windsor Lewis, who had known and worked with her in the theater and TV.
Barbara's plans for the immediate future call for a trip to the circus with six-year-old Susan, and a summer of sailing and swimming during the run of her play. After that, she says, "I'd like to do something important. If I ever go back to Hollywood, it will only be on a one-picture contract."
* The Bel in Bel Geddes was borrowed by Norman from his wife to grace his own plain Scots name.
† For news of this year's Oscar winners, see CINEMA.