HERMAN, above, with his doll-like sister, Suzanne. From the family album, 'ERMAN swingin' with sis! As a smiling, handsome young lad of 3 yrs. Platinum-haired HERMAN was already a rocker (on rocking horse)!! Every Christmas meant wonderful surprises for HERMAN and his older sister, Denise. Peter Noone (HERMAN'S real name) as he was growing up. Notice his "famous" fangs?!?

I HAVE met many parents of stars, but I have never - I repeat NEVER - met anyone quite as warm, wonderful and friendly as Mr. and Mrs. DENIS NOONE. Need I tell you they are Mum and Dad to HERMAN also known as PETER.      Herman was so pleased that I had hit it off with his parents. "You'll love them," he warned me. "Everybody does. They are so young and understanding."      Mrs. Noone bubbles over with enthusiasm; she loves to talk about her family. When Denis Noone went chasing after SUZANNE, their 20 month-old doll, she confided a closely-guarded secret to me.      "I'm expecting another baby in about five months. I'm simply thrilled to pieces that I am starting another family. Peter is hoping this one will be a boy. If it's not, we'll keep trying until we get another boy. He also thinks his father is a genius, being able to start another family at his age. Peter is positively thrilled for us, and not at all embarrassed about my being pregnant, nor was he when I had Suzanne." Joan Noone was as radiant as a bride.      Mr. Noone is rather on the reserved side and is very much in love with his wife. "It's easy to see that he's a devoted father," Joan Noone said. "He adores his little girl and won't leave her out of his sight."      I asked her if they minded the invasion of their privacy while visiting in California. "Mind! My dear, I'm thrilled to know that so many people love Peter. His fans are constantly sending Suzanne all sorts of gifts. I believe they love her as much as they do Peter.      "Peter was a very friendly child, and very lovable, very much like Suzanne. We used to take our children all through the European continent every year for nine weeks at a time. Even though he couldn't speak the language in most countries, he always made friends.      "Before I was blessed with Suzanne, I was a company secretary. Mr. Noone is an accountant. The firm he works for is very happy about his taking time off from work, and told him to have a good time and to enjoy himself. They're holding his job for him until he gets back. This trip to America has been our big dream, and everybody has been so kind; unbelievably kind.      We were "enjoying" an unusually hot California heat wave during their visit in October. But Mrs. Noone admitted, "your nights are lovely."      "After Peter completes his role for MGM in There's No Place Like Space, he's arranging for us to take a Hawaiian trip. He's just wonderful," she repeated.      "He's also made his older sister, DENISE, director of one of his companies. Of course, she's happily married and hopes to have at least forty kiddies. She just loves children. She's got one little boy now and is very envious of me in my present condition," Mrs. Noone has the look and the smile of a serene Madonna.      Suzanne kept Mr. Noone busy running after her during most of our chat, but when he would come back to our table, he talked glowingly of Herman.      "Since we always took the children for trips around the continent," he repeated Mrs. Noone's words, "I suppose that's why Peter never gets too homesick; he's used to traveling. One year we took ten children in all - Peter and Denise's friends. They were so grateful to us for being given the chance to travel.      "You're probably wondering if it was expensive, and how we could afford it. It's a lot cheaper than coming to America. In fact, it's not as much as you think. Instead of staying in first class hotels, we stayed in middle class inns. We also saved money eating in very inexpensive places. It didn't cost as much as people think."      "We have many precious memories of Peter as a youngster," Mrs. Noone told me when her husband again gave his attention to the baby. "He was very clever at school. Peter passed an examination at ten that is usually given to students when they are at least eleven or twelve years old. They advanced him after the examination when they saw how well he did," she said with motherly pride.      "One of the things he did when he was about ten, was to go to school without his uniform. This school had very strict regulations about uniforms. On this day, Peter wore a suit with a very long jacket and high-heeled boots. They called me immediately from school and said that if I didn't bring his uniform and different shoes to school by eleven a.m. that day, he would be expelled. I suppose the reason he did this was just to see if he could get away with it. I don't think he was scared at all because he knew I would get him out of this scrape, like I had done so many other times. Needless to say, I rushed right down with his uniform and shoes." We both howled as Mrs. Noone continued.      "Oh, Peter would get into little jams; nothing serious. It wasn't that he was spoiled; he just knew I was always there to protect him. . .and how he could twist me around his little finger. He'd always call me when he was in trouble. You know, nothing serious. As a youngster he had a delightful sense of humor, but the school authorities didn't quite see it that way," Mrs. Noone smiled in recollection.      Don't miss the delicious 2nd installment in the April issue. Previous | Teen Life Mag Index | Next