Alan Ameche: The Story of "The Horse"

11. Pasadena Dreaming

 It was just a fleeting moment when measured in the totality of Alan Ameche’s life, but the two weeks he spent in Southern California for the  Rose Bowl seemed so natural. Ameche was perfect fodder for the West Coast newspapers, and not just the sports pages, but the Hollywood beat as well. The nineteen-year-old newlywed was big, strong, ruggedly handsome, and the star of the visiting team from Wisconsin. And yes, the Ameche name carried more than a little weight in Tinseltown as well. Don Ameche, Alan’s second cousin, was forty-four years old by this time and past his leading-man days in such motion pictures as Alexander’s Ragtime Band and The Story of Alexander Graham Bell. (His best performance, the one for which he would win his only Academy Award, was in Cocoon, and that would be in , thirty-two years later.) So it was only natural that when the West Coast media was allowed access to the Wisconsin players, the first question was for Alan Ameche and involved his relationship with Don Ameche. Writing for the Milwaukee Sentinel, Tony Ingrassia penned: “The coast papers have been having a rough time getting straightened out on Al (The Horse) Ameche’s relationship to Don (the movie star) Ameche. “Some say they are related, some say they aren’t. For the record, in Al’s own words, ‘My father and Don’s father were cousins.’ That ought to settle that. . . . One paper carried this item in a story about Ameche. ‘Unlike his famous kinsman, the perfect profile Don, the Badger back owns more rugged features including a nose that is somewhat long and pointed.’”  Pasadena Dreaming   pasadena dreaming The story continued: “‘Why do you run straight up?’ a teammate taunted. ‘Why not lower your head and barrel into ’em?’ “‘Because I’m afraid I might spear somebody, that’s why,’ he retorted. Al, who sort of likes his rugged features, failed to see the humor.” Given the star status of both men, it was probably the most-asked question of Alan Ameche during his football career. Bill Furlong asked it in his story for Sport magazine. Ameche’s answer: “‘We’re related, sure,’ he says, ‘but it’s not what you would call a close relationship.’” As mentioned earlier, the only conversation between the two Ameches occurred when Don had called Alan at the behest of Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy. The irony there is that Don Ameche graduated from the University of Wisconsin after attending Marquette and Loras College. However, Don Ameche apparently had no loyalty to the University of Wisconsin , which wouldn’t surprise anyone in Kenosha. He had little use for Kenosha after achieving fame and fortune in Hollywood. “Alan always liked Kenosha, not like Don Ameche,” Yvonne said. “They wanted to give Don Ameche some Italian award in Kenosha and he said, ‘Why would I come back there? I thought it was a terrible place to live. I thought it was ugly.’” A column by Jim Barnhill in the Kenosha Evening News surmised that Alan Ameche was the most photographed Badger leading up to the big game. “Ameche was pictured with Lana Turner, Doris Day, Bob Hope, Dolly [Polly?] Bergen, Leah Feland, Tournament of Roses queen, and many others. One L.A. paper [the Examiner] ran nearly a half-page picture of the Kenosha fullback.” The Badgers had arrived in Pasadena on December , and Williamson was relentless in his preparation for the game. The Badgers had two practices each day they were in California, right up until the day before the game. The day he arrived in California, Ameche sent a jumbo-sized postcard of the Rose Bowl to his parents, who were still living at  th Avenue. The postcard had a return address of Room , the Huntington Hotel, Pasadena , California. Hello Mom and Dad. Here I am , miles away and I did it all in about  hours. I feel very well and hope all at home feel the same. It’s warm here and very beautiful. We start practice right away tomorrow morning and continue until January . Twice a day. I’ll write you soon. Love, Alan Ameche also missed his new bride Yvonne and his good friend Mario Bonofiglio, who left the team after the regular season ended. Ameche had a fake newspaper printed up with a two-line banner headline that read “Bonofiglio and Ameche...