Inside Hollywood Dorothy Clark Haskin
F i n a l I n s t a llm e n t
Dorothy Clark Haskin traveled a long way on the path which led her from being a stage-child to a child of God. She was a toe dancer on the stage and dramatic child actress in the motion pic tures. When her mother shot herself, Dorothy sought in Christian Science, Spiritualism and other cults the answer to “ Where is my mother?” Finally, she learned that Christ had died on the cross for her sins, accepted him as Saviour and attended the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. HEARTBREAK HOLLYWOOD W HEN I graduated from Biola, I went home and cried. I knew that the Lord could not use me as He could the other, younger students. I yearned to go into full-time Christian service but there seemed to be no place for me. Two days a week I worked as church visitor from a small Reformed Presby terian Church on the east side of Los Angeles, ringing door bells, inviting peo ple to church. During the summer, under the auspices of the American Sunday School Union, I taught Daily Vacation Bible schools in the rural districts. One sweltering summer, in the Bakers field district, I taught both a morning and an afternoon school week after week. It was so hot that my clothes were al ways damp and sticky. My mind whirled as I repeated the same verses over and over again. Exhausted, I came home into a terrific heat wave in Los Angeles. I lacked the strength to go back to my work as church visitor. I dragged around the house but did manage, some how, to write an article about my sum mer experiences which I submitted to the American Sunday School Union. The head office declared it was too realistic so the local missionary had it printed in tract form. Then I wrote an article on my experiences ringing doorbells on the east side and submitted it to the'Sunday School Times. One day, more utterly weary than usual, I decided to go to a doctor to see if anything could be wrong with me physically. I couldn’t remember ever being sick in my life but I went to the doctor’s. He examined me, declared I had nervous exhaustion, and ordered me into a rest home. My husband heard I was there and came to see me. It had been four years since I had seen him. He brought me a gift, a pair of shoes, and told me he JULY, 1952
had taken a stand for Christ. Then he knelt beside the bed and, knowing so well my zeal and my faults, he asked me to come back to him. I prayed earnestly and it seemed to be the Lord’s will. The years since have proven that it was. Our being together has been blessed of God in many ways. The other wonderful thing which hap pened to me while I was in the sani-
Now I began, even though slowly. The first year I wrote twenty-three ar ticles of which twenty-one were pub lished. I progressed slowly because in evangelical circles Christian writing is seldom mentioned as a field and there was no one to guide me. I had to study under secular teachers and I learned that those who teach writing through out the United States advise the begin ning writers to send their early efforts to the Sunday school papers. I learned to adapt what they taught to the Chris tian field. Now, I have had over 1600 stories and articles printed in over 100 publi cations, mostly Christian. In 1951, five of my books were published and five are scheduled for publication in 1952. Even so, I feel that I have done nothing compared to the need. The need is not for more Christian literature. We have hordes of it which is written in a dull, flat style. The need is for evangelical writers who will labor to present the truths of the gospel in an interesting manner which will compel the reader to read the article or book. I still live in the same house on a hillside in Hollywood. Although it is years since I was actively engaged in the motion pictures, I have contacts which inform me that the calibre of people in them is the same as in the days when I was in “show business.” When I was a child, it was Wally Reid who was the principal actor in the dope scandal of the day. Recently it was Robert Mitchum’s arrest and convic tion on a narcotic charge which was a part of our national dope scandal. There is always some scandal flour ishing in the newspapers. After Frank Sinatra finished chasing Ava Gardner across the country and the headlines, there was the Franchot Tone-Barbara Peyton, off again, on again, romance. Then Walter Wanger shot the man who was the alleged lover of his wife, Joan Bennett. When motion picture stars become involved in scandal, the studios cannot afford to drop them because of the vast amount of money invested in them. Names sell pictures. An actor is built up through publicity; thousands of dol- lare are invested in a story, in support ing actors, in directors, in stage crews, until the money invested in them is tremendous. If the actor or actress is involved in a scandal the studio must Page Thirteen
Mrs. Haskin Today Christian Writer
tarium was receiving a copy of the Sunday School Times with my article printed in it. It was my token for good. When I was strong enough, Roy took me home. I lived the quiet life of a housewife, recovering my health, and also I began writing. I had long had a desire to be a writer. When only nine and working for Universal Pictures, I wrote my first story. When I was six teen, I wrote my first novel and sub mitted it to a publisher. The reader was kind enough to point out ways that I could improve it, but I lacked the drive to revise the book. The press ran an article Follies Dancer Writes Novel and that was the end of it. I had a few stories accepted by the secular press but I had never settled down to work hard and actually write.
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