The Secrets Of Our
Five Prominent Detroiters Tell How They Made It To The Top.
WENDY ROLLIN
Special to The Jewish News
Shirley Eder
TY 9
rom the star-spangled boulevards of
Hollywood to the sidewalks of New
York, Shirley Eder's got show biz
covered.
"If there's something happening, I'm
there:' Eder says, recalling assignments,
adventures and enough famous folk to fill
several autograph books.
There was the time Eder went with
Ginger Rogers to meet President Harry
Truman. Or her journey to war-torn Viet
Nam with Bob Hope. And — live from the
lion's den — a radio interview with animal
trainer Clyde Beatty.
As she tells these and myriad other
stories, it would be hard to miss the ge-
nuine enthusiasm in Eder's voice. One of
the components of success, she says, is "to
enjoy every moment of what you're doing."
Clearly, she does — and always did.
Eder first fell in love with the world of
glamour and greasepaint as a child in New
York, taken by her mother to see matinees.
When she graduated high school, she told
her father, "I don't want to go to college
because I'm going to be a big star!'
Eder's father, a New York Supreme
Court judge, responded, "fine"—on the con-
dition she could find a job in theater before
school started in the fall. He couldn't im-
agine that his inexperienced, 17-year-old
daughter would succeed.
"I just knew I had to do it," Eder says.
"I knocked on every door!" And, lo and
behold, a door finally opened. Eder landed
a small role in the last week of the last road
company of The Women playing in Newark,
N.J.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990
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Eder describes the night her parents
came to see the show: "My father said to
my mother, 'When does Shirley go on?' And
my mother said, 'She's been on: "
Eder had three lines — reduced from
10, seven of which went to the director's
girlfriend. It cost her $40 to join Equity and
she was paid $25 for her role. Her father
said, "That's it. You're going to college."
Attending New York University, Eder
arranged her hours so she could look for an
entertainment-related job in the afternoon.
Once again, determination opened a door.
At 18, Eder became the host of a "woman's
show," reading recipes on radio station
WINS.
"I liked show people better," she says.
"I liked stars. I decided to go get stars to
help me read the recipes — Ann Francis,
Gregory Peck, Katharine Cornell. Very
soon it became an interview show. That was
really the beginning."
Ever since the beginning, Eder's been
resourceful, as well as persistent. Before
Edward R. Murrow did "Person To Person;'
Shirley Eder and her inquiring mike went
right into people's homes . . . into Gloria
Swanson's closet . . . into Fredrick March's
kitchen.
Based in Detroit since 1958, Eder says
she "travels constantly to get what I want!'
And, as any Eder-reader can testify, even
with her geographical disadvantage, Eder
manages to come up with more scoops than
Baskin-Robbins.
Eder's New York-to-Detroit transition
highlights another of her ingredients for
success: solid priorities. Her husband, Ed-
ward Slotkin, whose family business is
Hygrade Food Products, made the move for
business reasons. Despite her attachment
to New York, Eder went with him.
"You've got to know what comes first.
Family. I know what's important." She says
she's benefited both from the good values
instilled by her parents and the support of
a husband "who never minded my doing
what I was doing. He encouraged me all
along!'
Eder acknowledges that she's heard a
few discouraging words from people who've
asked, "How can you like everybody?" She
says she aims "to be honest and honorable.
To tell the truth, but not to put it in such
a way that it hurts the person you're talk-
ing about!'
It's a success formula that's worked.
Disarmed and charmed, the stars come out
— and Eder makes them shine. ❑