Excerpt From 'Forever Young'

ByABC News
December 12, 2000, 7:46 PM

— -- In 1948, Hollywood screen star Loretta Young astonished the pundits by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a Swedish maid in The Farmers Daughter. Young had dyed her hair blond, and worked very hard at perfecting a Swedish accent. She beat out the favorite for the award, Rosalind Russell, who was also one of her best friends. When the actress went onstage to accept the award, Academy President Jean Hersholt greeted her by saying, Loretta, thank God for you. You probably saved the Academy! Youre the only winner who didnt finish first in the poll! At first, Young didnt know what he meant, but later it was explained to her: Would the awards ever again have been considered suspenseful, or even honest, if winners were all but announced ahead of time? That was the last year the Daily Variety took its poll predicting winners before the ceremony.

Below is an excerpt of Joan Wester Andersons authorized biography Forever Young: The Authorized Biography of Loretta Young, published by Thomas More Publishing.

The Farmers Daughter While Loretta was working on (ironically) The Perfect Marriage, Dore Schary visited her on the set. Schary, a former writer-producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was now the production chief of Vanguard Pictures, run by David Selznick, Myrons brother. Selznick wished to do The Farmers Daughter as his next project. The movie, originally a Finnish play titled Katie for Congress, is about an effervescent Swedish-born girl who works as a maid for a United States congressman and his family, and eventually becomes a congresswoman herself. The starring role had been offered to Ingrid Bergman, a genuine Swede, but she had turned it down. Several other starlets had been considered, including the skater Sonia Henie from Norway. Dore Schary had been sure from the beginning that Loretta was right for the role. But Selznick and others had disagreed. Now, with the rest of the players cast, time was growing short, and Schary was given the green light.As they spoke on the set, Loretta expressed doubts about her ability to master a Swedish accent. I could do southern, she suggested to Schary. My mother still has a trace of it, and Im used to it. No, said Schary. It was an essential part of the story that Katie is foreign born; Swedish would be better.

Further, Schary had a solution: he would assign Ruth Roberts to coach Loretta. Ruth was Swedish, but had no accent. She had originally taught English to Swedish immigrants in Minnesota, and because her brother, George Seaton, was a Hollywood director (Miracle on 34th Street among other hits), Selznick had hired her to help Ingrid Bergman lose her Swedish inflection. (We always said Ruth took away Ingrids accent, and gave it to me, Loretta recalled).

Loretta finally agreed because despite her concern she loved the role. Katie was a departure from the glamorous women she usually portrayed but, in many ways, was just like her-determined, headstrong, fiercely principled. The movie also had a patriotic theme, and took a strong stance against prejudice, values Loretta appreciated.

Ruth got tapes of a Swedish friend speaking in English, and Loretta played them repeatedly for the next six weeks. I was frustrated because no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt get it, Loretta said. But after a while I got used to the rhythm of the speech, very gentle, very up and down. Ruth kept encouraging me, and finally we felt I was ready. Loretta also dyed her hair blond, and wore four-foot-long pin-on braids, wound around her ears. With her rustic clothes, she looked every inch the farm girl.

She and Tom were also thrilled to learn that Loretta was expecting another baby. Schary may not have been quite as pleased, since pregnancies among the stars often led to delays in production, but he knew how much the Lewises wanted a large family, and offered his congratulations. Filming began, and Ruth Roberts proved even more valuable than expected, Loretta said. Wed do a scene, the director would yell, Cut!, Id think it was fine, but Ruth would stop, and whisper to me: Go a little deeper, say this word softly. Id ask for another take, follow her directions on these small touches, and we were all surprised at how well they worked. If she hadnt been a woman in that era, she could have been a director, and a superb one, at that.

Dore Schary was immensely pleased with the dailies, and told Loretta that if she kept going like this, he believed she could win an Academy Award for the role. Loretta laughed. Nothing could be less probable in her mind. But the movie had brought her a new and invaluable friend-Ruth Roberts. Special people seemed to pop up whenever I needed help or encouragement, whether in my professional or private lives, Loretta said. It was no coincidence.