BEAUTY AND THE Best

If life imitated art or, at least, B pictures, the handsome athlete would wind up with the gorgeous chick, holding hands by the automatic dishwasher, listening to the kids gurgling over the family intercom. This is one version of the American dream, and the fact that it sometimes comes true can be seen by looking at the dreamy couples on the following pages. Tennis Star Pancho Gonzales netted Madelyn Darrow, Miss Rheingold of 1958; they have twin daughters, Christina and Mariessa, 17 months. Halfback Jon Arnett was thrown for a loss by Yvonne Flint, Rose Bowl princess, Home Show Queen, Miss Ambassador ("That was for the cutest teen-age model and they picked me, though I was 21 at the time"); little Matt is 19 months. Pitcher Don Drysdale was smitten by Eula (Ginger) Dubberly, model and TV actress ("Lawman," "Hawaiian Eye"); Kelly Gean, 3, makes three. Conni Venturi and sons, Matthew Bruce, 6, and Timothy, 3, ease the torment of Ken's long slump on the professional golf tour.

Madelyn Darrow Gonzales, Miss Rheingold of 1958, met Pancho at a tennis club. He gave her lessons and married her. (They now have twins.) "Richard is still very sweet about tennis," says Madelyn. "He'll play with me anytime I want—real tennis, too, not just hitting the ball."

Does Yvonne Flint Arnett worry when Jon carries the ball for the L.A. Rams? "Only when two or three of those huge men land on him." Do Jon and Yvonne live it up when the Rams win? "The guys sit around and talk about the game. The wives sit around talking about something else."

I'm thrilled to be his wife but I married the man, not the figure," says Ginger Dubberly Drysdale, wife of star Dodger pitcher Don. "We try to live our lives as normally as possible. We keep baseball on the field, but the nights we plan to go out the fellows always play 14 or 15 innings."

He gets up whistling," says Conni McLean Venturi of her golfer husband Ken, "and he always comes to the breakfast table with his hair combed and a big smile. But after eight years of married life I know what's next—he grabs the sports page and gets lost for a half an hour."

FOUR PHOTOS

PHILIPPE HALSMAN