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Chubby Checker Announces Engagement

Dec. 12, 1963 - Rock ’n’ roll singer Chubby Checker today announced his engagement to Catherina Lodders, a Dutch woman whose year-long reign as Miss World ended last month. Checker is credited with inventing the dance craze known as the twist. His fiancée, 21, now works as a model but confided to newsmen: “I want to become a housewife and a mother. We hope to have two children.” Checker, 22, hugged tall, green-eyed Catherina as they made the announcement in the Philadelphia house he bought a year ago for his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Evans. “He’s different,” Miss Lodders said, flashing a smile. “He’s the quiet type. He keeps very busy, and I like the way he hums around.” Speaking in faltering English, she told how she met Chubby, a one-time South Philly chicken plucker whose real name is Ernest Evans. They met for the first time last January in the Philippines. She and six other beauties were in a show starring Chubby. Three weeks ago, Chubby went to her home in Holland, proposed, and asked her parents’ permission to marry. “Her parents like the idea,” Chubby said. Asked if his bride would join him in any of his shows after the wedding, Chubby replied: “No, she’s a model. I’ll let her model. If she wants to cook, I’ll let her cook.”

© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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