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There was, of course, a problem: Salinger had been away from California for nine years, was now a voting resident of Virginia. But he was finally assured that all legal obstacles could be overcome, turned in his resignation to President Johnson, flew to San Francisco, and filed for the Democratic primary only two hours before the deadline. Behind him, he left his second wife Nancy, whom he married in 1957. A talented ceramist, Nancy has been staying on in Virginia to care for the three Salinger children. Pierre was awarded their custody after divorcing his first wife.
After Salinger had announced his candidacy, Pat Brown exploded. Pierre, he declared, was nothing but "a rookie." But he changed his mind after Pierre whipped Cranston by 140,000 votes in the primary. Pierre, Brown now cried, was "the rookie of the year." Pat appointed Salinger to fill out Engle's term when the Senator died in July. Pierre's incumbency would presumably help him in his campaign against the Republican nominee.
Shoot the Works. Then and now, many Democrats figured George Murphy as a pushover for Pierre. Murphy, quite naturally, sees himself differently. "I consider myself a human engineer," he says. "I've done a lot of things in my life, and I have had a broader chance to study people than anyone I know. I've lived in every kind of place, from Beverly Hills to Hell's Kitchen. And I've worked in speakeasies and in big corporations and everything in between—mines and garages."
Born in New Haven, Conn., the son of an Olympic coach, Murphy attended Yale. Never a good student, he ran out of money and dropped out of college after two years, puttered around with odd jobs until he met a Detroit dancer named Juliette Henkel. Julie taught him some steps, they got married in 1926, and embarked upon the kind of career of which movies are made. They danced together in nightclubs, and those jobs led George to Broadway hits: he played juvenile leads in Good News, Of Thee I Sing (in which George portrayed a wiseacre White House press secretary), Hold Everything and Roberta.
Lana & Oscar. Then on to Hollywood, where George was a natural, most often appearing as the likable, big-hearted guy who might have won the girl in the end if he had not spent so much time doing paradiddles with his toe-taps. He danced with Shirley Temple in Little Miss Broadway, with much leggier chorines in Top of the Town. He played opposite Ginger Rogers in Tom, Dick and Harry (Murph was Tom), hoofed with Judy Garland in Little Nellie Kelley, romped with Cinemoppet Liz Taylor in Cynthia, and twirled in Two Girls on Broadway with Starlet Lana Turner. All that Murphy will recall for the record about that picture was that "Lana was lazy. But when she put on a sweater, no one cared about her working habits."