May 1978-$1 .00

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CENTURY WEST CLUB—visits the "family that stays together because they pla ytogether ." Byron and Taffy Roberts with their daughter Janie and son Richard .

QUESTION: What do you get whenyou cross a multi-faceted produc-tion expert with a very feminineand talented designer ?ANSWER: One "special effect sgenius," one "beauty queen withbrains" and, as a bonus, a Docto rfor a son-in-law !All five are active, contributin gfamily members who convene aminimum of three times a week atthe chic Century West Club in Cen -tury City.As the begatter of our "playtogether, stay together" family ,Byron Roberts, who sports a per-petual twinkle in his eyes and an af-fable personality, has also foun dtime to participate in the making ofover 250 motion pictures . "GoneWith The Wind" credits him as anassistant director while "Baby FaceNelson" boasts of his producingtalents. "My Wild Irish Rose,""The Wizards of Oz," "Logan' sRun," and currently "Baltimor eBullet" and "Rocky and Oliver"exemplify him as one of the mos tproficient and sought after produc-tion managers in the business .During the early days of his career ,.after graduating St . John's LawSchool, Byron by-lined "Dining theWorld" in New York and "Radi oFan" for the Los AngelesExaminer. The Ritz Brothers oweat least a portion of their fame tohis press agenting skill . 'Long aboutsix o'clock on any given eveningByron can be spotted "handhold-ing" with his "other half' en routeto their workouts at the CenturyWest Club . Mrs . Roberts, avivacious bundle of contagious ef-fervescence, also radiates the swee tsmell of success as her veryfeminine designs have graced thecovers of Photoplay and Modern

Screen, have sold in suc hprestigious stores as Neiman -Marcus and Bergdorfs and haveenhanced the glamour of glamou rstars like Lana Turner and HedyLamarr. Her retail "Taffy" storeswhich started as a single entity inWestwood blossomed into sixtee n"in" boutiques throughout th eSouthland . Taffy, whose real nameis Sarah, was born out of Taffel ,her maiden name which sh epromptly changed eight months af-ter her sister introduced her t oByron during a visit to Los Angelesfrom Atlanta . Recently, thei rdaughter Janie traded her maidenname for that of a young and hand-some anesthesiologist, Dr . AlanCohn who administers at Cedars ,St . John's, St. Joseph's in Burbankand Daniel Freeman hospitals .CWC: Dr. Cohn, how did you meetyour bride?DR . COHN: After attendingmedical school at NYU, I came toLos Angeles in 1971 to serve myresidency at U .C .L.A . Janie's

"beauty and brains" combinationmade their impression . If I may doa little bragging, she was on theDean's List .JANIE: That came about as a resul tof an incentive program . My fathersaid if I did well in my studies, he'dbuy me a Mercedes. So, I appliedmyself and made the "list . "CWC: Since you've won a numbe rof beauty contests and have ap-peared in television commercials,should we conclude that you'r eheaded for a theatrical career?JANIE: No . I've also been a nurse,a buyer, a paralegal, and now I' mopening my own all-Europea ncosmetic store "Le Parfumerie . "CWC: Meantime, while love wasblossoming for Janie and Alan ,twenty-nine year old Richard, theRoberts' special effects genius wh odazzled the world by swingingthrough trees as Tarzan's "Boy,"completed a script about the trial sand jubilations of growing up in theposh playland of Beverly Hills i n

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28CENTURY WEST—CONT'Dthe sixties. His special effect smastery unveiled itself in his muchawarded "Theta" film, a sevenminute time capsule history of theUniverse shown through the eyes ofan analogue computer . Richard' sanimated movie trailers augmented"Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, ""Cactus Flower," "Love Machine,""Mame," and "Butterflies Ar eFree," but it was his revolutionarywork on "Logan's Run" thatprompted "Sixty Minutes" to high -light his abilities .RICHARD : Bill Abbott wh oheaded the special effects unit o nthe picture had been trying to solv ea particular problem that involvedan electronic crystal force field ,300 extras and a carousel that cost$600,000. They couldn't make th eforce field look like anything morethan colored lights . Finally, i nfrustration, they gave me an op-portunity to try and solve it, and i tresulted in the first time com-puterized optical effects were usedin a Todd-AO 70 mm film ."Logan's Run" won the AcademyAward for Visual Effects in 1976 .CWC: While Richard is forming hisown Computer Animation Com-pany incorporating his radical newtechniques, his multi-talente dfather continues to excel in thearea he enjoys most—the dollarsand cents of the motion picturebusiness .CWC: Byron, what are your dutie sas a production manager?BYRON: After a producer hasacquired a script, he gives it to m efor a script break down which en-tails a complicated system oforganizing the number of shootingdays, the actors and locations, etc.onto a production board . I thenfigure film and lab expenses, stunts ,special effects, hotels, food, equip-ment, wardrobe, insurance, staff ,crew and many other components . Icompute this figure by reading thescript and knowing what has to b edone for each sequence . After Iarrive at a total, the producer usesthis information to acquir efinancing for the picture.CWC: What do you as a financia lexpert feel about the salaries thatare paid actors like Marlo nBrando?BYRON: All over the world with

AT THE HELM—of Popeyes i nMission Hills, Bob Eckstrom and "Big"Jim Smith . Popeyes is the Valley' snewest dining and dancing place! Doe sPopeyes serve spinach? Yes—a lusciousPopeyes' Spinach Salad accompaniesevery dinner .

the exception of the United Statesyou sell your movie in advance wit ha guarantee . You sell France for acertain amount of money, Englan dfor a certain amount, Germany, &so forth. For example, theatr eowners booked "A Bridge TooFar" before it came out on the basisof its many known actors . Conse-quently, the money was guarantee deven though the movie was poorlyreceived and got bad reviews .CWC: How much money must amovie earn before it shows aprofit?BYRON : Four or five time snegative cost . After the picturecomes out, the releasing organiza-

tion takes their cut and the theatreowner must allow for advertising ,so it takes a long time before theproducer sees a profit.CWC: During the interview the ob-vious warmth between Byron an dTaffy begged the question—How doyou account for the success of yourmarriage?TAFFY: Byron and I share every -thing with each other . Before hetakes on a new production, we rea dthe script and discuss its merits .Then, if he has to go on location ,we go together. I guess that's whyall our friends are divorced an dwe're still married. Also, I thinkbeing feminine has a lot to do withit . A woman can do anything shewants in life if she plays the part o fa woman. That applies to businesstoo. Once, before the Union Bankwas built in Beverly Hills, therewere four empty spaces owned b ythe man who then had the BeverlyWilshire Hotel . He would not eventhink about renting those spaces forretail . After much ado, I finallymanaged to meet with him . He washandsome and had grey hair . "Whatkind of business do you have?" "Adress shop," I replied . "I'm not in-terested," he said firmly. "You wil lbe interested. I've got somethingthat's very different ." "What coul dyou have in a dress shop that woul dbe very different?" "I have a `veryfeminine' dress shop ." I said that inmy real Southern accent. Anyway ,he said he thought he had hear deverything, then he leased me thespace. Jax and Matthews came i nafter me. Another time, after Isigned one of the biggest leases i nmy life for $350,000 through Cald -

"The 24 Hour Bank "

Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, U.S. Depositary

GARDEN GROVE8132 Garden Grove Blvd.

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EDDIE WOODALL—(left) is picture dwith his long time friends Mr . and Mrs .Richard Ralphs at the Los AngelesTennis Club during one of the recentparties held there .

MR . AND MRS. STANLEY DAVIS—flank General Omar Bradley at a part ybefore General Bradley's departure for Fort Bliss . Texas where he now resides .They are close friends and the General enjoys reading Stanely's monthly column i nCLUB & Sports " -the Cellar Club ." Stanley is President of that fun organization .

CENTURY WEST—CONT'D

well Banker, they asked me ho wmuch money I had in the bank . Isaid, "About $350." The executorreplied, "$350 . I'm sick!" I smiledand in a very feminine tone an-nounced, "You won't be sorry. I'mgoing to have the best shop on thestreet ." Caldwell Banker said thatstory has been repeated a milliontimes. In fact, they just called me t oopen another Taffy shop in theBonaventure . We still maintain onein the Ambassador Hotel which ou rson Richard operates .CWC: Could you summarize the"family that plays together, staystogether" philosophy?TAFFY: Byron and I begin eac hday by walking three miles beforebreakfast. Then in the evenings wego to the Century West Club.BYRON: Where I play racquetball.I'm an absolute racquetball fiend .JANIE: I play racquetball as well asparticipating in the classes .ALAN: I exercise religiously.TAFFY : I attend the stretc hclasses. They're hard, but worth-while . Afterwards, i enjoy amassage .RICHARD: I can be found in th eco-ed classes and I've developed aninterest in skiing through membersI have met. The Century West Clubis the crossroads of many types ofpeople . It affords creativ ediscussions in an informal at-mosphere. The club is a greatequalizer.TAFFY: Since we come to the clu bat the same time, it gives us some ,thing in common which is one o fthe many reasons we are so close asa family .

DOIN' THE TOWN—CONT'DFor $7.50, including salad, the

bouillabaisse along with the $6.95prime rib dinner are the two Fridayevening favorites with the actorsand sportsmen who make thei rmeeting place the Saratoga .

"At the Saratoga we make apoint of serving authentic cuisine ,whatever its origin," states Higer .

A diner at La Polonaise told co -owner Chef Jean Rouard that he

had a most delicious crepe soufflein Paris not long ago, and asked i fhe could prepare one for him . Jeanobliged with his Crepe Souffl eCabaret which he prepared wit hcream pastry, white beaten egg ,lady fingers soaked in Kirsch-wasser, and flambe at the table.Result? You guessed it! The dine rwas so pleased he toasted Jean andhis pretty co-owner sister, France ,with a bottle of Dom PerignonChampagne.

To set the record straight, th eLuau property in Beverly Hills hasbeen sold. But, Steve Crane, owner

of the Luau, did not sell th erestaurant per se . In addition to theproperty, he was paid a hugeamount for his lease and given two

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