 FRED: Here you are, making your first film in London. HERMAN: Actually, it's my third film - I made two in America. But what gets me is getting up at seven in the morning. It's terrible. I have to be in makeup by eight and I don't get control of all my faculties until ten. Then there is all this waiting while they change lights and sets. Awful. And to think there are people who've been in this movie business for thirty years. FRED: Your real name is Peter Noone. Do you like being called Herman? HERMAN: Well, that's the name people know. Nobody knows Peter Noone. Even my friends from school call me Herman. They know my real name but they call me Herman - probably because it is a funny name. FRED: At nineteen, has your career matured you? Do you like it? HERMAN: It knocks me out. I'm lucky enough to get paid for doing what I like. I travel, learn, meet great folks. FRED: How do you feel about teenagers, drugs, morals, etc.? HERMAN: This drug thing kind of scares me. But you know, when I was eighteen and began to drink, my parents were horrified. But everyone knows what happens when you drink. You get drunk and you feel awful. But drugs are kind of mystical, everyone wants to try 'em. And they discover love. I knew what love was when I was two. I think drug takers are losers. I don't need drugs to tell me about flowers or how great people are. I know that. I don't know much about sex morals, but I can't see any harm in mini-skirts. Someone once said, "The more you cover up - the more you dig it." But I like the new styles. FRED: Are kids too free today? HERMAN: I only know that the only way I ever |
 learned was by making a mistake. And by learning. I feel I can teach my kids better. But I'm sure my father felt the same way. He felt he knew everything. And my father did a good job with me - and with my sister - he was strict. But if I had a daughter, I wouldn't be so strict. I'd give her more freedom. I feel that if you hold a cat by the tail, the minute you let go, that cat is going to run away. But what my father did worked out wonderfully for his children - it's just that I would have to use my own way with my kids. A lot of girls I know took up with the first person they met. They now have illegitimate children. They are still wonderful girls, but they have these children to always remind them of a mistake. I don't think anyone should have anything to regret. FRED: Do you have any advice to pass along to teenagers? HERMAN: I'm not the kind to go around telling people what to do. But I say it's all a matter of thinking. If everyone thought just five minutes before they did something, it would be great. Everything is so fast today - fast words, fast cars. All you do is kill yourself. People should slow down and think. I used to be the geezer in the fast car, the guy with the fast word, but I've slowed down. I think now before I do, before I answer. But the real answer to straightening out is to fall in love, marry and have a kid. When you have a kid, when you have someone to work for, that's it. FRED: You sound as if you're going to run off and get married. HERMAN: Well, I will someday when I meet the right girl - and I know I will meet her. See Herman and The Hermits in M-G-M's "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter." Hear Fred's "Assignment Hollywood" on ABC radio. |