This article appeared in the April 1971 issue of Daytime TV.
It is accompanied by photos of Lynn Benish (Meredith Lord)
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“Too Many Women Put Men Down.” But, Lynn Benish says,
‘I’M STILL GOING TO LOOK UP TO MY MAN’”
by R. Marian Rose
Coming from this blonde, petite, wide eyed, dimple-cheeked young lady, Lynn Benish (Meredith Lord, One Life to Live) the statement, “I’m still going to look up to my man,” sounds like a large one. But when tiny Lynn says it, you can believe that she means every word of it.
“There are many phases of Women’s Liberation on which I agree, such as finding places to care for young children while women who are widowed, divorced or separated go out to earn a living. But in the field of salaries, I can truthfully say that the women in show business are already fully liberated.”
Lynn’s concern for young people doesn’t come as any surprise in that Lynn was herself a nursery school teacher not so very long ago.
A graduate of Hunter’s college, Lynn worked with youngsters 3½ years old, teaching them to read. She says, “I found my work exciting and rewarding. It’s a wonderful feeling to know you are guiding young minds, helping them to make discoveries, fulfilling their curiosities. And the greatest thing about it all is that they are so ripe to learn. Their minds are like sponges ready to soak up every bit fed to them. More and more youngsters know how to read before they get to public school because of the time they’ve spent in nursery schools. I just can’t explain to you the excitement of it all; watching their faces light up when they make their discoveries on a printed page.”
Does Lynn ever regret leaving that scene and going into acting?
“No, I really don’t. That was one phase of my life and now I’m involved in another area of excitement. I’m doing the learning now. I’m making discoveries all the time.”
“At collage I majored in Theatre and minored in Education. I never thought as, a child, that I’d have the courage to appear before large audiences. But when finishing my education, I began to do TV commercials and that led to other parts."
“I was in the National road company tour of Star Spangled Girl with Tony Perkins, who not only acted in the play, he also directed it. I mention this because I learned so much from Tony. He actually trained me. When I took four curtain calls after a performance, Tony had every right to be proud. He was responsible for it happening. Later I appeared in the show with Keir Dullea and then with Terry Kiser (Corey-Sean, on Secret Storm). Terry is quite a guy. He’s funny and full of all sorts of pranks. I also was on The Doctors with him.”
Lynn loves to travel and wants to do a lot more of that before settling down with the man she will look up to. She’s a New Yorker and her parents still live in New York. Her sister Helen, Who is older than Lynn and married to an army career man –a major – has two children, Connie and Scott. Lynn says, “Yes, I guess everybody is kind of proud of me and my career.”
Right now I’m thinking about a trip to Europe. You see, I’m a new skier and I’m just excited about getting over there for some skiing.” It was easy to see that Lynn was quite thrill with her new sport because her eyes lit up and she had that kind of exhilarated smile. “Oh, I love to horseback ride and play tennis, but skiing is new and I’m really looking forward to many happy hours on the slopes.”
Lynn is a happy girl, a serious girl. She is quite concerned about our world problems such as over-population, but equally concerned with problems facing us as Americans, such as pollution not only of the air but of our waters.
Answering the question of over-population, Lynn said, “Well, with me, that all goes along with my belief that I will look up to my man. I want to have a child or two of my own because, after all, what’s more beautiful than to create another human being with someone you love?”
“But I also want to adopt. After all, there’s enough love in this world for another little mouth and giving birth to a child doesn’t necessarily make a person a better parent. I sincerely believe, though, that population has to be stabilized or this world will be in real trouble. You know, I grew up when kids were yelling about the bomb. I never really feared that scare so much as I do the threat of over-population and pollution.”
“All these things are related, as far as I’m concerned. After all, if we have money to spend on the space program (don’t get me wrong, I was all for landing on the moon) but, now that we’ve done that and got what we went after, wouldn’t it be nice to spend some money on cleaning up our waterways and air? I feel sad when I think that perhaps children of future generations might grow up without having the pleasure of tasting foods we eat now – like fish. They may not get to see things we’ve seen.”
“I was in Vermont recently and I found it so exciting to smell fresh air and hear birds sing. I’d hate to think that some day soon, children won’t enjoy things like that.”
About protest and protestors: “I’m in favor of protest when it’s done peacefully. I don’t like violence and I doubt whether there are many people who do. But one thing I will say – just because people find things wrong with this country doesn’t mean that they like this country any less. There’s room for improvement anywhere in this world. Why can’t we take some of the good things we see in other countries and add them to what we have here? That doesn’t mean we’re any the less American than any one else. I feel quite the opposite about that.
“One of the things which really pleased me was when the Mayor of New York closed the park and some of the main thorofares in the city to traffic and let the pedestrians have their day. It was wonderful. No, as far as I’m concerned, let’s use the money we’re using to fight a silly war, for good things. Why, we could actually make New York a fun city to live in! It has so much to offer.
“You ask how I feel about the fashion-trend? Well, as you can see, I’m wearing a mini skirt. That should answer that. I just don’t feel that I can afford to make such a drastic change to my wardrobe, so I’m going to go with last year’s clothes. I think most women are protesting the midi look, too, because they feel it was forced on them just that idea alone has made it a touchy situation. Men should now, at least the fashion designers, that women don’t like to have changes that quickly. They like to have some choice in the matter.”
Lynn Benish, who tour hospitals with other starlets, singing for patients, is a fine representative of this younger generation. She has her opinions and her goals, and she’s working toward them. Perhaps one day soon, Lynn will find that man she is looking for and fulfill her dreams, which consist of “putting my husband first, then my children.”