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Helps March of Dimes In another non-Hollywood oa- j parity. I am very much interested in the March of Dimes, of which I am now California state chairman for the second year. •
You might ask how did I, an actor, director and TV producer, become interested in a subject that would seem a long way from my profession. Well, the fact ;s I was asked by a friend on the Columbia Pictures lot whether I would volunteer in the March of Dimes fight against birth defects. 1 told my friend to tret me some maU-rial on what the March of Dimes was doing, and to let me think it over.
When my wife and P'first read the figures about these tragic disorders, I have to admit we were somehow ashamed of our lack of knowledge. A quarter of a million infants are born each year with defects. Also each year, we lose a half-million unborn- babies as well as 60,000 infants, children and adults, all due to birth defects.
Figures Are Shock
I have a hunch that these shocking figures were unknown to the general public for years, not because they weren’t available, but because nobody,really wanted to hear about them— particularly young parents. In \ spite of this apathy, the March of Dimes decided to tackle this problem. Just because a subject is depressing, doesn’t mean we're justified in ducking it.
It didn’t take me long to realize that birth defects certainly are m>t far remove^ from my
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