- [on Monsoon (1952)] My leading man was George Nader, and it was directed by Rod Amateau, who become a lifelong friend. Ellen Corby, later to gain fame as Granny Walton [on the TV series The Waltons (1972)], was also in the cast, as was the marvelous character actor Myron Healey, who always had a camera in hand, taking pictures of everything imaginable.
- I was flown over here and put up at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. They let me use my legal name at the time, Ursual Thiess. Thiess was my ex-husband's [Georg Thieß] name. He was mean and brutal.
- I was in Germany during the war. The Nazis knew how I felt about them; I was considered a traitor so I tried to keep out of sight as much as possible.
- Modern Screen voted me 1952's Most Promising Star - as they also did for Marilyn Monroe. That same year, I received the Golden Key Award from the Foreign Press Association, whose ceremony I helped to host. And in 1953, I received the Golden Globe Award.
- [on Bengal Brigade (1954)] Rock Hudson was the star, and the other female lead was titian-haired Arlene Dahl, whose looks were a contrast to my dark hair and make-up. Arlene's dressing room was next to mine, and I heard her say, in an agitated voice, "If I'd known that woman was in the cast, I never would have signed the contract!" When I confronted our mutual agent, he said, "Don't worry about it. It's just professional jealousy. You're just too pretty to share the screen with". As for Rock, he was a sensitive, cooperative young man, ready to give a helping hand. He showed, like [Robert Taylor], a great admiration for character actors, possibly feeling trapped in his good looks. I appreciated his ever-present gallantry.
- [on Bandido! (1956), her last starring feature] It had been 18 months since The Americano (1955) was finished, and at this point, I saw myself as a housewife and mother of a four-month old baby boy. I wondered if I had made the right decision, but at this time [Robert Taylor] was still encouraging me to work. But, what neither of us realized at the time I signed the contract, was the entire production called for being on location in Mexico. I had good domestic help, so I didn't have to worry about that, but I had other apprehensions, like the airline with a not-too-good reputation. Just as we approached Mexico City, the plane took a nosedive! Food, drinks, everything went everywhere. The plane leveled off and the pilot tried to make light of it with non-funny jokes.
After a one-night rest in that big city, we drove to our first location, in Cuernavaca, where we stayed for quite some time. It was here where I met my leading man, Robert Mitchum, an acquaintance who had a reputation as a womanizer. This couldn't be further from the truth. He was wrongfully labeled. What I saw was a lover of women - be they three years old, sexy and young, or 95! Each got his attention, but he was not the pursuer - he was the pursued! - [on her and Robert Taylor's friends] Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan were our closest friends, and almost next-door neighbors in the Pacific Palisades. We attended parties with David Niven and Hjördis Genberg, Ray Milland, George Sanders, Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons and her then-husband Stewart Granger, and Michael Wilding and his then-wife Elizabeth Taylor. Other friends were Henry Koster and wife Peggy Moran, Lita Baron and husband Rory Calhoun, Steffi Duna and husband Dennis O'Keefe, and Lana Turner and husband Lex Barker. We were also friendly with Clark Gable and Kay Williams. Clark even taught me to shoot. Clark tried to talk Bob into letting me do The King and Four Queens (1956), but I'd already promised Bob I would give up pictures.
- The ground breaking on our [her and husband Robert Taylor] first home coincided with the starting date for RKO's The Americano (1955), which began shooting in late June on location for two weeks in Riverside, California. So near yet so far, Bob decided it was time I learned to drive a car. William Castle was the director, Glenn Ford was the star. Ford early on stated he wanted realism and his point of view was demonstrated on his leading ladies, me included. "I like to treat my ladies rough," he grinned in that boyish way of his. How rough, you might ask? Well, he threw me off a saddle, onto the ground. He did it with such velocity that it resulted in a twisted neck, a torn blouse, a mouthful of sand, and a thundering 48-hour headache! This was not a good beginning, but my colleague got his scene and admittedly, it didn't lack realism. Cesar Romero, who was the second lead, came to visit and comfort me during my two-day recovery, as did other cast members. I tried to make amends for what happened, but Cesar's reply was quite direct: "Don't kid yourself, Ursula, that son of a bitch knew what he was doing. He's got a reputation for that!"
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content