European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Stripes r Magazine Hollywood s Ivan tors a real or. Dolittle by Vernon Scott up staff writer "\70u might know it would happen Al at my Home said producer Ivan tors fishing an iguana from his swimming lifted the struggling Lizard like animal from the Blue water of the Poland placed it on a warm Flagstone to dry out in the morning Sunshine. When his body temperature warms up a bit hell scamper off into the Gar Den " tors explained leading the Way into his Holmby Hills Home near Holly Wood. A Zebra skin throw Rug was on the floor of the foyer from which a circular staircase led upstairs to his Den and office decorated with pictures of Ani Mals a stuffed Dolphin and a stuffed miniature shark. There were trophies and awards Here and decor suited the Man and his occupation just As the iguana in the Pool somehow was symbolic. Ivan tors is something of a Latte Day Frank Buck the movies and Tele vision s Foremost authority on animals. He has three video series on the air Maklari Cowboy in Africa and gentle his first series Flipper returned to the air this month. His movies include Zebra in the Kitchen Rhino Clarence t h e Cross eyed lion and a couple of films is stars Are wild animals with human actors filling out the shoots his shows at Africa ., a 200-acre animal farm 40 Miles from Hollywood and in North Miami fla., where he owns a modern four stage fully equipped studio. He has built his Fortune and his career on the beasts of the Jungle the Veldt and those that dwell beneath the sea. Inthe process tors has become almost As much a zoologist As a film producer. I have a special Affinity for animals and they for me he said. Animals which Are treated with kindness from birth never return to the wild state or turn on their tors fascination with the Anima kingdom began with his sea Hunt 4 series Back in 1956. The show ran four years. The series turned my life around he said. During our underwater sequences i noticed the Sharks Barracuda oct Opi Manta rays and other so called monsters of the Ocean never both ered us. I allowed no Spear guns and Learned that these creatures left human beings alone unless they were shown aggression to begin ors a native of Budapest Hungary and a one time pre medical student there Speaks with a marked accent. He is a Man of medium size with warm eyes and a Salt and Pepper Van Dyke lie has never shot or wounded a wild annual nor has he been injured while working with almost every species of wast from boars to Lions tigers and Cape Buffalo. A his Many trips to Africa relearned that wild creatures unmolested a Man in their natural state will no attack human beings. Not even the Rhinoceros will attack mess it i s frightened he said. Andyne killer whale is no such thing. It is a most intelligent mammal among the minis 1 can feed them by hand. Theye Llod killers because they must eat pounds of protein a Day and the atolls a great Many me animals in most of tors films television shows have been tamed a gentle by himself and his partner inner Ralph Heifer who runs Africa m am Mals have an instinctive fear of for the most part tors said. With beast immobilized tors attaches transmitter so he can find animal later. The tors family gathers around pet Tiger Sarong. Tigers Are Tori favourites. They have been hunted killed chased and skinned by Man for a million years. But this can be turned around quickly if you understand the Bill of rights for animals and their territorial rights. For instance Lions have 10 Square Miles which they consider their tors liquid Brown eyes Light up whence discusses the big cats and bears he works with. Obviously they Are More exciting to him than the cattle like beasts of the Plains and Veldt. Feline Are the easiest to work wit because you do not have to overcome the Barrier of fear he fight animals cannot be handled safely sometimes not at All unless you As a human being touch them before they Are six weeks that it is too late. You can t train an adult fight animal All the Way or Trust them unless they have been raised from the time they Are babies by the Lions tigers chimps bears another stars of his films and television shows Are trained from Babyhood by Heifer and tors. It is this method of training that Al lows a lion to crawl in bed with Enactor and an enormous Brown Bear to stretch out before the fireplace in Home setting. It is More than feeding a cub or baby Chimp by bottle and hand from the time it is a few weeks old Tor explained. Every animal must be touched and played with every Day. Replay with leopards and jaguars who were supposed to be unt Amable tors has been nipped Only once by baby lion but not seriously. One of his assistants however recounts the time tors placed his Finger inside one of the Many Bird cages at Africa An suffered a painful peek on the hand from a does not believe in making pets of wild they Are kept around a household they assume the neuroses of the humans he said with a Grin. That s Why a Domestic dog is More dangerous than a Wolf. The Wolf will stay away from you but a neurotic dog is liable to bite. It happens All the of All animals the Tiger is tors favorite. I like them Best because i can Trust them he said. The Tiger is relaxed and More like a cat than a lion or Leopard. Also they Are less nervous. And certainly they Are among the mos Beautiful of apparently tors is not Overly fond of chimpanzees although Judy the Chimp along with Clarence the Cross eyed lion co stars in Are like people he is fond of saying. They Are untrustworthy and Are ignoble 50, tors is looking Forward to a heavy schedule of family movies an television shows based on the animals he has trained and brought to this country from All parts of the world. He is the father of Steven 11 Peter,10 and David 6. He is married to for Mer actress Constance Dowling. It is Fortis family As much As anything else that he has turned to the clean Cut innocent kind of entertainment lie is producing now. A dozen years ago lie was Busy writ ing and producing science fiction movies and Oiler More sophisticated tors believes he Lias found a t1 ratifying life s work "1 love animals themselves he said. "1 have Learned from them. And in the process i am accepted today As a world authority on wild animals which is pretty Nice thing to happen to a Layman. And i am on the Board of directors of the world wildlife fund. More than that 1 am a Happy an very Busy Man. Who could ask for More wednesday March 6, 1968 the stars and stripes Page 11
