THE Evening Times writer, Meg Munro, a self-confessed middle-aged bobbysoxer, had interviewed many of the leading male stars of her era.

Johnny Ray has sung to me, she wrote in March, 1956. Guy Mitchell has kissed me. Howard Keel has held my hand in his. Bob Hope has taken me in his arms, and the Olivier charm (which so enchanted the OTHER Monroe) has been switched in my direction -- and I can proudly record not one single faint or even the tiniest scream.

But when it comes to Mr Power -- Mr Tyrone Power of the black, black hair and blue Irish eyes -- oh, my goodness me, I weaken, I wilt, I ALMOST give a real bobbysoxer scream!

You can laugh if you like, but when you wait 20 years to meet the man of your dreams, take it from me, its a serious moment.

So when I went backstage at the Kings Theatre after the first performance of The Devils Disciple, little wonder that my knees knocked a little when I knocked on the door of Mr Powers dressing-room. Once inside, how did I find Mr Power? Well, bias apart, you can take it from me that Mr Power is very nice, oh my goodness me, yes, VERY NICE. Moreover, hes highly intelligent and a sheer joy to interview.

Power, clad in a midnight blue robe, told Munro (over the shrieks of the genuine bobbysoxers waiting outside the theatre) said that he liked to spend his leisure time flying his own plane to Mexico or down to South America. I like to get away from people into quiet places. I like to lie on a beach in the sun; I like to go deep-sea fishing, but best of all I like to work ... I become intolerable to myself if Ive been away from work for more than three weeks.

Power, who had been born in Cincinnati, Ohio, had made his name as an actor on Broadway before turning to Hollywood. He became an overnight film star with his performance in Lloyds of London (1936). Subsequent films included The Mark of Zorro (1940, the year in which he was Hollywoods top box-office draw), Blood and Sand (1941), and The Sun Also Rises (1957). But he made repeated returns to the stage for dramas such as The Devils Disciple, by George Bernard Shaw.

The 1956 run of the play took Power to Edinburgh and Glasgow; he is photographed here holding onto his hat on a visit to windy Edinburgh Castle. This papers drama critic watched the opening night of the week-long run at the Kings, in Glasgow. The greatest curiosity, he wrote, is the appearance of Tyrone Power as Dick Dudgeon, a Devils Disciple of dashing appearance and some panache, though wanting perhaps a little of the zeal which Shaw meant there to be in his preacher-turned-inside-out.

Power died in November 1958, aged 44, having suffered a heart attack during the filming, in Spain, of the epic, Solomon and Sheba.

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Those were the days - Tyrone Power in Scotland, 1956 - HeraldScotland