Irene Dunne's Secret: You Are What You Think

HOLLYWOOD - Every once in a while, Irene Dunne takes time off from her duties with the United Nations to return to her old love, acting. At CBS the other day I visited her on the set. The director stopped to chat a moment.

 "Isn't she beautiful?" he exclaimed.

 "That's not just flattery," I said. "You look marvelous and your figure is divine. What's your secret?"

 "Some people say you are what you eat," Miss Dunne replied, "and there is a great deal of truth in that. But it is not the whole picture. I believe that you also are what you think. When you are young, what is inside does not show, but with maturity your interior living is reflected in your face to build or destroy beauty, depending on the quality.

                                         Maturity Is Desirable

 "Maturity is a desirable state, and women who try to escape it appear rather ridiculous. And those who make no effort to cultivate it are missing a joy of life."

 Miss Dunne was called before the cameras, and as she rose quickly and walked across the stage, there was a youthful flexibility about her that made me ask as soon as she returned, "Do you exercise every day?"

 "I try to. You have to use your body if you want it to continue to work for you."

 I wanted to hear more about her routine and she said, "It is mostly for circulation and stretching. One of my favorites is to stand and raise my hands above my head, and then rotate myself. It keeps my waist slim and gives me a good stretch.

 "I enjoy standing in a doorway and kicking back and forth as high as I can, keeping my head up and my knees straight. Sometimes I do knee bends, and sometimes I sit on the floor, hug my knees and rock back and forth.

                                       You Need Gymnastics

 "This keeps my hips slim, and for flexibilty of the spine, I like to do a half somersault. I used to play a lot of golf. I worked to get a low handicap, but one thing that always surprised me was that despite all the walking one did, not too many of the players had good figures.

 "We use so few muscles in our way of life today that a routine of gymnastics is necessary to keep the body in shape. The important thing is to be consistent. My favorite time for excercising is before I go to bed. There are no interruptions, and I can sleep well after a workout."

 The conversation flowed to food, and Miss Dunne was most enthusiastic about the need of fresh vitamins and minerals found in raw fruits and vegetables.

 "Everyone agrees that cooking takes away some of the nutritonal value, so I like to have mine raw. I find it very revitalizing to drink fresh vegetable juices. I have a wonderful machine that eliminates the pulp, and in a matter of seconds I can fill a glass with juices of carrots, spinach, cucumbres, or any combination I want to make.

 "I persuaded a friend of mine, an older man who was quite exhausted to buy one of those juicing machines, and it was remarkable the way he responded. His vitality picked up, and he was able to work twice as hard without getting tired.

 "Fatigue is a destroyer," she pointed out. "I have all too often allowed myself to become completely exhausted. This is foolish, and now I have too much respect for the gift of health to abuse my body that way.

 "I have been procrastinating, but as soon as I finish this show, I'm going on a spring cleaning diet. I shall have nothing cooked. I'm going to rid my body of the accumulation of toxics with a combination of toxics with a combination of raw vegetable and fruit juices. It is always surprising how satisfying this diet is. The calories may not be high, but I'm never hungry or tired when I'm on it."

Leaflet M-100 "Irene Dunne's House Cleaning Diet" is different from any other diet ever offered. It isn't necessarly one for losing weight, but for ridding the body of toxins and making you feel invigorated and alive. Send 10 cents and a self-adressed stamped envelope to Lydia Lane, The Wisconsin State Journal, P.O.Box 1111, Los Angeles 53, Calif.

(The Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday April 22, 1962)