Up close and personal with
Rula Lenska
By James Nichols and Pam Eppinger
In 1978, America was in
troduced to the raspy-voiced
Rula Lenska and her flowing
auburn locks. You may
remember Ms. Lenska from
her TV advertisements where
she represented a brand
name hairspray while
stepping off large aircraft
and reclining in chauffeur
driven. limousines. The
commercials began with
Rula looking lustfully over
her mink-covered shoulder
and into the camera while
purring in a thick Polish-
British accent, "Hello. I'm
Rula Lenska ."
You may have asked
yourself, "Should I have
heard of this woman before
this hairspray commercial?"
Well, perhaps not. Before her
whirlwind entrance into the
exciting world of American
television advertising, Ms.
Lenska's credits were few
and far between. She played a
prostitute in Peter Seller's
"Soft Beds and Hard Bat
tles", a pop singer in the TV
miniseries "Rock Follies",
and was almost cast as a
director in "Queen Kong", a
movie which was never made
:due to legal problems. Other
,than that, though, Rula
, Lenska's only other 'claim to
`fame was her hair.
Within a short time after
her debut on American
televisions screens, Rula
Lenska became a mock
celebrity and the butt of
many satirical jokes. Like an
epidemic, T-shirts and
bumper stickers stamped,
j 'Who the Hell Is Rula Len
ska?" swept the country.
With lightning speed, people
'organized cult-like in
ternational fan clubs whose
sole purpose was to extol the
Polish countess (really and
for true!). Even a poetry
competition was organized;
i :P•
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its purpose: to hymn her
name.
Even before Rula Lenska
rocked the world of hairspray
with her stunning presence,
she had an intriguing history.
Born' Countess Roza-Maria-
Laura-Leopoldnya Lubien
ska, and having acquired the
nickname Rula during her
childhood in London, she
grew up the daughter of
exiled aristocrats. Ooooooh,
the plot thickens, folks! Even
at the tender age of 19, Ms.
Lenska realized her
theatrical ambitions. But it
just was not meant to be; she
was rejected by the Royal
Academy for Dramatic Arts.
So she settled for a bilingual
secretarial course, (she
speaks five languages), and a
job in a bank. But, after what
seemed like an eternity, she
was released from the
doldrums of a 9-to-5 job when
she was finally accepted at
another drama school where
she eventually met her
husband, Brian Deacon, who
starred in the recently
released "Jesus". Rula and
Brian now live in Wimbleton,
England with their daughter,
Lara.
But what does the future
have in store for the alluring
Rule Lenska? Is there a
chance for true stardom or
will we see Ms. Lenska doing
television advertisements
which would only lead to
further joking at her ex
pense? Perhaps Rula will be
content to gaily flit about like
a woodsprite through her
Modest Wimbledon
residence, dusting knick
knacks, stiffening her coif
fure with that brand-name
hairspray which has put her
into the curious eye of
society, and merely being a
ho-hum housewife.
I suppose I should begin
this B&M session by
welcoming back all the
seasoned veterans on cam
pus. I should also like to
welcome the new freshman
class to "the Berg" and show
YOU how you got into this
mess. I would like to use the
rest of this column to explain
some of the methods used to
sucker you into coming to
"the Berg" and show you how
things really are.
The best place to start is
the recruitment process. Do
you remember the pamphlets
about PSU Hazleton? They
have photographs of people
sitting under some tree with
open books in their laps and
big smiles on their faces.
Another popular picture is of
people happily trotting to
class or something. In my
little over a year here on
campus, I have never seen
such ludicrous sights and
consequently, I still can't
figure out where they take
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Increase your options from
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degree, secure in the know
ledge that it will enhance
your financial future.
To make that degree more
meaningful, you should in
crease your options from the
beginning.
And you can do that
through Army ROTC.
Army ROTC offers practi
cal leadership with hands-on
adventure training. You'll get
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which will develop your
ability to accept greater
responsibilities.
You can be part of this ex
citing curriculum in the first
two years. And there's no
obligation. You'll earn $lOO a
month for 10 months each of
the last two years in Army
ROTC.
B&M
By, Steve Zarick
those pictures. In fact, I am
inclined to believe that the
only time one would see these
amazing displays of joviality
would be if U-Park were to
decree that scheduling and
attending class would no
longer be necessary to
graduate with a degree.
And how 'bout those
recruiters that go around to
the high schools and college
nights. Some of the recruiters
that I have run into rival the
best politicians in skilled
oratory and clever
evasiveness. I remember
asking one such recruiter
how the food was on campus.
His reply was something to
the tune of, "The weather is
great on campus, and oh yea,
food's the same." By the time
this issue of the Collegian is in
print you will probably see
that the food and weather are
about the same. (I didn't say
either were good).
Finally, the day comes
when one can check the
campus out. A prospective
student is shown the modern
library, great class building,
and super duper gym.
Upon graduation you'll be
wearing the gold bars of an
Army officer. With the kind of
experience you get in Army
ROTC, you're qualified for
many careers, military or civi
lian.
Army ROTC provides for
both either active duty sta
tus with a competitive start
ing salary or you may pursue
your full-time civilian career
while serving with a Reserve
Component / National Guard
unit.
Get a good start. Increase
your options from the begin
ning with Army ROTC.
ARMY ROTC
For More Information Contact
Capt. Curtis Manning
454-8731 ,
M-105
However, one is not shown
the even more impressive
sights. Do you remember
ever visiting the South
building on one of these tours.
I'll bet you didn't.
And then there is orien
tation week. The theme
always seems to be, "Get out
and meet people, you're all in
this together." One is inclined
to think that, rather than
starting school, he has just
been inducted into the
Marines. And while I'm on
the subject of meeting people,
I hope that you start using
some more imaginative lines
to meet people. I bet that by
the time you have read this
column, you have been asked
"What's your name" and
"What's your major" about
10 million times. Talk about
original come on lines.
Well its time to close this,
the first B&M for this school
year. I hope that I have
clarified several points about
the campus and the Penn
State way of doing things.
And I also hope you all un
derstand how you got into this
mess.
Be all that you can be!