James MacArthur Official Website: Welcome To My Digital Scrapbook!
James MacArthur Official Website Other Goodies Articles, Photos & Video Email Credits, Biography & Info News and Updates James MacArthur Official Website Logo

Honeymoon Delayed (c. 1959)


You could say that they’d already had a honeymoon -- that is, if you want to use the word loosely. After their marriage last November, Jim and his bride Joyce Bulifant were off to the West Indies -- for all of three days. They had wanted three weeks -- or even three months. There was so much to do and so much to talk about. They already had had one separation during their engagement period. That was a necessity when Jim was abroad making Third Man on the Mountain. On their honeymoon they wanted time to catch up. But there was no time. Jim was due back to New York to star in Far Away the Train Birds Cry. It was an important play. It was his big chance. So they rushed home. Joyce was signed for a role in Tall Story. She thought it would be fun being in a play at the same time as Jim. It would be something to keep her busy between eight and eleven p.m. It wasn’t that she had any serious plans of becoming an actress -- but she enjoyed doing it and Jim got a kick out of her enjoyment. So what happens? Joyce gets tied up with Tall Story and Jim finds out that Far Away the Train Birds Cry has been postponed. Indefinitely. His agents, who labor under the theory that love is wonderful and all that but ten per cent of a client’s love is nothing, came forth with an assignment on the Desilu Playhouse. The only thing wrong with that was that Desilu is filmed in Hollywood -- and Jim spent what could have been three weeks of precious honeymoon time alone in a bachelor apartment at the Chateau Marmont. Meanwhile, back in New York -- Joyce used the same three weeks to find an apartment that was anything but bachelor-style. She signed the lease hoping to surprise her groom, then became scared to death that he’d disapprove of her aggressive act. “When I came home and discovered the new apartment had a dishwashing machine -- all was forgiven,” says Jim. Furnishing the new place was no problem. Jim’s mother Helen Hayes had given up her New York apartment and had a warehouse full of things from which the young MacArthurs could pick. And pick they did. Wonderful lamps and chairs and all kinds of priceless knick-knacks. Despite the fact that Joyce had to work in the evenings -- there was no domestic discord. Here’s a gal born to be wed. A good cook, a wonderful manager. “Let a grocery clerk try to put anything over on her re weights and measures or quality and quantity and he is always caught red-handed in the act,” says Jim proudly. There was only one slight note of sadness in the MacArthur menage: the absence of a real honeymoon. Then thoses unromantic agents finally proved they had a heart too. Jim was signed by Walt Disney to make Kidnapped, to be filmed in Scotland, and from Scotland his working schedule was to take him to Tobago for Swiss Family Robinson. Included in the contract were provisions for one bride. According to Jim: “We were handed what amounts to a whole year’s vacation. And with all expenses paid!” You can see it was well worth waiting for.

James MacArthur, Joyce Bulifant

Joyce Bulifant, James MacArthur

Joyce Bulifant, James MacArthur

Joyce Bulifant, James MacArthur

Joyce Bulifant, James MacArthur

>>Back to Top<<

{Home} {Current News} {Latest Site Updates} {Film Credits} {Television Credits} {Stage Credits}
{Other Credits} {Combined Credits} {Biography} {FAQ} {Charles MacArthur Salute}
{Email James MacArthur} {Photo Index} {Articles & Interviews} {Non-English Articles}
{Video Clips} {Contact Site Administrator} {Site Help} {Search Site} {Interactive Games}
{View/Sign Guestmap} {Join Mailing List} {Join Discussion Group} {Send an E-Card} {Free Screensavers}
{Site Visitor Statistics} {Site Awards} {Site Accreditations & Affiliations} {Links} {Privacy} {Copyright}
Site Layout and All Original Site Content © 2001-11 curator@jamesmacarthur.com. All rights reserved.

Site best viewed at 800x600 or higher screen resolution.