Pat Boone laments on the death of his 65-year-old wife. Shirley Boone (Shirley): ‘Oh, how I miss her
Shirley boone : Pat Boone is still grieving over the death of his beloved Shirley Boone.
At the age of 84, the performer and daughter of country music artist Clyde Julian “Red” Foley died.
The couple bought their Beverly Hills house jointly in 1960, and the 1950s celebrity still lives there.
The 86-year-old told Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, which is currently on newsstands, that she lives alone with a cleaner and her puppy, a small cocker spaniel.
“I’m fine,” he admitted. “I mean, I miss her so much.”
The Boones’ relationship began while they were both teenagers. They married in 1953 and had four children as a couple.
Their extended family grew to include several grandchildren and great-grandchildren as time passed.
One of the secrets to their long-lasting relationship, according to the singer, was faith.
Boone told the newspaper, “We made our pledge in marriage to God and to each other.”
“We make our own choices, yet we are supernaturally assisted. I’m willing to be led in the proper direction.”
Boone claimed that he wrote a song called “You and I” before Shirley died.
He explained, “It expresses the concept that we will someday be together in paradise.”
“My greatest achievement is our 65-year marriage in Hollywood, being an artist, and having four children,” Boone said. “We have a wonderful life.”
Shirley died at home in Beverly Hills, with her daughters Cherry, Lindy, Debby, and Laury singing to her as she passed away, according to Milt Suchin, Pat Boone’s personal manager.
In an email to Fox News, he said, “Shirley was more accomplished than is commonly known.”
“Best-selling author, music artist, TV presenter, philanthropist, and founder of Mercy Corps, a top ten global hunger-relief organisation with a half-billion-dollar yearly budget, which began in the Boone home. Her Christian ministry has made her famous to millions.”
Boone told Fox News in 2018 that he was so dedicated to Shirley that he was extremely cautious on set whenever a picture featured a love scene with an actress.
“There were no love scenes in my debut film, ‘Bernadine,’” Boone told Fox News at the time.
“Now I move straight into ‘April Love,’ and that screenplay, too, has no love scenes…
Our characters fall in love, but the script doesn’t include any kissing.
So I never told my wife what would happen if I was requested to kiss in one of the films I’m working on.”
Nick Conover (Boone) visits his ancestors’ farm in Kentucky and falls in love with their neighbour Liz Templeton in “April Love,” a musical version of 1944’s “Home in Indiana” (Shirley Jones).
It was the family man from Nashville’s second film of the year. He and his wife had three girls together, and a fourth child was on the way.
Boone was just happy to be starting what would turn out to be a long career in show business at the moment.
He’d signed a seven-year agreement with 20th Century Fox and shared a dressing room with Elvis Presley and Cary Grant, who was then a somewhat unknown actor.
He wasn’t prepared, though, for director Henry Levin’s unexpected change of heart about his job.
Boone said, “We arrive to this scene towards the end of a musical number aboard a Ferris wheel at the county fair.”
“We’ve come to the end of this song, and the characters are starting to declare their feelings for one another…
‘As the song concludes, bend in lovingly and softly kiss Shirley Jones,’ the director urged.
“‘On the mouth?!’ I exclaimed. ‘Yes!’ he exclaimed. ‘But Henry, it wasn’t in the script,’ I countered. ‘
No, but the audience wants to see you kiss the leading lady, and this is a fantastic location for it,’ he stated afterwards.
‘Well, Henry, I know this sounds strange, but I’ve never told my wife Shirley about it because kissing in movies hasn’t come up yet,’ I added.
Boone’s statement made Levin giggle, but the actor was serious. He returned home immediately to tell his wife about the love scene.
“Look, if you’re going to do movies, I think you’re going to be kissing,” she added, according to Boone.
“‘But make one commitment to me. You’re not going to like it.’ “I promise, I won’t,” I said.
Boone was poised to smooch Jones on tape when he realised it was too late. Overnight, the information was leaked to the press.
“They all ran with the headline, ‘Pat Boone refuses to kiss leading lady,’ and they presumed for religious reasons,” said Boone, who is a devout Christian.
“And it wasn’t!” says the narrator. All I wanted was to stay married.
And my wife gave me the go-ahead. ‘I can live with it if you kiss Shirley Jones, but just don’t try to enjoy it,’ she replied.
The movie studio was inundated with letters and telegrams from all over the country.
Some admirers applauded Boone’s seemingly brave decision to uphold his conservative views, while others were taken aback that he would forego the opportunity to kiss Jones on the lips.
Boone said, “I’ve had to answer questions about this for the last 60 years.” “
People were writing letters saying, ‘Stick to your guns, boy!’ ‘Finally, someone in the movies with morality,’ added others.
Others said things like, ‘You don’t want to kiss Shirley Jones?’ Allow me to kiss her for you!’
Even Jones was taken aback by Boone’s first hesitation, according to reports.
Boone “was quite pious, and his wife had decreed that he wasn’t permitted to kiss another actress,” she told People Magazine in 1996, according to Turner Classic Movies.
“We were supposed to have a huge kiss on a big Ferris wheel, and he wouldn’t do it,” she continued.
“But you’re an actress,” I countered. He was still refusing. The worst part was that he kissed the girl in his next film.”
The network was open to everyone. Levin handled the difficulty by having a taunting passerby stop the kiss at the last moment.
The studio refused to release this information to the press, instead stating that the world would have to see the film to see how the kiss was resolved.
The publicity stunt paid off. The film “April Love” grossed more than $4 million at the box office.
Weeks before the film’s release, the title song, sung by Boone, became a million-selling smash. It received an Academy Award nomination as well.
Boone continued, “I would go on to do sequences with Debbie Reynolds, Ann-Margret, and Diane Baker.”
“I tried not to like it, but I have to admit, it was more fun than some of the other tasks I had to complete.”
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