\n\i a candid conversation with america's favorite comic actress about life as a daffy blonde, a tough lady, a devoted mother and a hollywood mogul \p
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\f1\fs16\b PLAYBOY: \n So you went back to New York?\p
\b HAWN: \n I had an experience when I was brand-new in New York. I was going for a modeling job when a man picked me up on the street, saying, "You have a very unusual face." If he had told me I was beautiful, I would have known he was full of shit and walked away. But he said the right thing and he gave me a whole line of bull. He said, "Al Capp, the cartoonist, is casting parts for the movie version of \i Li'l Abner \n and has a wonderful character called Tenderleif Ericsson, and you seem like the right girl for this. Have you ever acted before?" And I said, "Yes, I did \i Romeo and Juliet\n ." So I got into his Cadillac, thinking, This is great! I'm driving down Amsterdam Avenue in a brand-new Cadillac convertible; my mother and father will never believe this! He said to me, "You have to be very nice to Mr. Capp, because he can do a lot of good for you." I was really excited.\p
\t Well, he primed me for this visit for about two weeks, telling me how I would earn all this money and become a big star. My initial thought was, God, I'll be able to put wall-to-wall carpeting in my mother's house. So I learned my lines and went to this apartment, very nervous. The butler came in and said, "Mr. Capp would like you to pour the tea. He always likes his ladies to pour the tea." I sat there waiting for Mr. Capp. And he thundered in with his wooden leg. He had great presence. Very deep voice. "Goldie, I heard so much about you. I understand that you are a very nice girl. You're going to have to work very, very hard to get this part." He was in his bathrobe. I said, "Mr. Capp, I'm a dancer and I know what it is to work hard." He said, "Good. Now, would you stand up and start reading." So I read very loud. He said, "Goldie, speak softly for the cameras, because they can hear you." I was sucked in. I believed this man really wanted to help me. Then he told me to go across the room and pretend his eyes were the camera and take the dangling orange beads that I had hanging from my neck and put them in my mouth and act like an imbecile. So, like a jackass, I took the beads and put them in my mouth and acted like an imbecile.\p
\t Then I started to get very nervous. I smelled something coming. He said, "Would you walk to the mirror and lift up your skirt, 'cause I think you can play Daisy Mae." I was very proud of my legs; it wasn't something I was shy of. So I lifted my skirt. He said, "Higher." I went up an inch. He said, "Higher." I went up another inch. It finally got to the point of no return and I said to myself, "That's it; it's not going any higher." He said, "Come and sit next to me"ùat which point he had completely exposed himself. And this \i thing \n was staring at me!\p
\t I looked at it and started to shake. Then I threw the script down and did what any nice Jewish girl who was going to grow up and marry a dentist would do. I said, "Mr. Capp, I would never get a job this way." He said, "Oh, I had \i all \n of them, all the movies stars. You'll never make it in this business. You don't have anything; you're nothing." He started to put me down and I cried, running out of his apartment.\p
\b PLAYBOY: \n Nasty story. Was that the end?\p
\b HAWN: \n Almost. The next year, almost to the month, this young, nice-looking Jewish man met me on the street and said, "Excuse me, I just have to stop you. You know, you have a very special look, and there's a man by the name of Al Capp; do you know who he is?" I started to scream! I was on Eighth Avenue. I said, "You're nothing but pimps for this man! Get away from me!" He said, "No, please, I'm not, I want to send you a script." I said, "Send me a script and send me a \i contract\n." He said, "Please let me buy you a hamburger." I said, "OK." I mean, I got a lunch out of that, so that's pragmatism.\p
