The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-23
1mERLcAN CoMEDLAMs.
uKrrouEs OF JEFFERSON, OWENS, CLARKE, AN
WARREN.

WARREN.
UAmong the Comedians" Is readable paper
:, ,ho Inne number of the Atlantic Monthly. The
,vriter savs,-"We are not of those who held
.bat the stage is in its decadonce; tnat all tne
r,roat nlayets went out about the time the gr"lu-
fathers of the present generation ceaseu W ne
.ront the theatres. There are many NOBLE
ootors still upon the stage, and few have been
moro richly endowed with those talents when
are the life and honor Of the theatres than tne
players who are altogether OF the present ulne'
There is an old iell6w, garrplous as n
occupyinp the adjoining desk IN our 90 WIh'tomtt
office whose mind is storehouSe OF plea99aIIv
recoliections Of the players VINO lTeteu ,a yi,1a'
brief hour npOh the stage Ia ms PHI
sThey are on gone now he says regIcuuiiJt g ~
ae II ali good acting and the gIOIy ~ ~
fbe drama had gone down into their graves raves VIZ AZ
them The Sddous, Kembe, ana NJ"m i,t tbe
Iiphted the town IN his London days, pGv Vnc
name on which he fingers longest is that OIL
old Jefferson our own 'Old Joe, wuon oF +So last
laier-a famous actor then, as any VI oIvI oI0 u,itb
generation ofplaygoer5 VIII tell you stlI fresh
ali our memories of his excellence SUI, ,, iloSn,
and after carefully weighing az & taI ~
criticism we are disposed 70 oeIleLT viayI soo. n5
son, Young joe is at l9Ss' tbe bam I with him are
Mr. Jobn SIeeper Clarke, some time pupmOI hr'
jefferson. MIR John e. ovens ana Mr. w @ Iillah
Warren, son OF the ere"V "'""u' li'
manager and comedian"
JOSEPH JEFFERSON.
Ar,or, the personal sketches is the follow
ing;-
6The versatility of Mr.. JeTerson's powers is
anelv shown in the scene of Rips" awakening
from his sleep in the Catskills, and in those
scenes which Immediately follow. Here he has
thrown off his youth, his hair has whitened, his
voice is broken to a childish treble, his very
limbs are shrunken, tottering palsled This
maunderng, almost imbecile old man, out OF
whose talk come dimly rays of the old quaint
humor, would excite only rldicule aud laughter
in the hands of an artist less gifted than Mr'
Jefferson; but his griets, bis old affections SO
rise 40 through the tones Of that marvellous
voice his loneliness aud hOmelessness so plead
for him, that old Lear" beaten by the winds,
deserted and homeless, is not more wrapped
about with honor than poor old KIP" wander
ing through the streets OF his native village.
exactly wherein lies NJ Jetlerson's chief
power it is not easy to shoN with the genius
Inherited from old Joe,' he possesses mind
richly stored, refined taste, and that rare
knowledge of his art which teaches the force of
repression as well as expression. Mr. Jefferson
is also O close and conscientious student The
words that flow from his tongue in such liquid
resonance seem the very simplest of utteranCes.
And so they are; but it would be interesting to
know how many hours of study it cost him to
arrive at that simplicity which is the GROWING
charm and secret OF success. Why, in the very
speaking of his daughters name in the last scene
i'm that matehless appeal to her for recogni-
I1Ol-'Meeule, Meeule,' IOcre Is Il QeDLl OF
pathos. tenderness, and beauty that charms like
music, and attunes the heart to the finest sense
of pity.
American actor land by that we mean imbued
with the dramatic spirit of the new naton), he
has formed his style so thoroughly upon that of
the best old English players, that he is almost
the only young American actor retaining the
excellence of that old school whose followers
were quiet, modest, leasned gentlemen off the
stage, and matchless actors on it, His range of
character is as wide as that of any contemporary
comedian, embracing almost everything in
comedy, from his exquisite delineation of the
pathetic story OF Caleb Plummer, in The Cricket
on the Hearth, to that of the broadest of broad
they are all full of that simple tranquility, pro-
priety, and freedom from eXaggeration which
characterize the true artist. None other how
ever, is so marked by his peculiar excellence as
his Rip Van Winkle.'"
JOHN S. CLARKE.
Of Mr.. Clarke the writer says:-
'When he relies entirely upon his own con-
ception of character, he is always correct, admi-
rable, irresistible. But when he attempts parts
that Mr.. Jefferson often played during the sea-
sons in which they were together, Mr.. Clarke
plays them only III such manner as TO show
how inferior the imitation is to the original.
Again, as Toodles or as, 'Dr. 0llapod,' Mr.
Clarke, amusing as he undoubtedly Is in
these characters, painfully reminds us of
tie late Mr.. Burton, whose stage business
urebsj anu luduncI tne ldler ACTOR repro
duces to the minutest particular. But, how
ever closely followed, it is not Burton, who was
the drollest of comedians, whose figure was
sacred to comedy, whose voice had unriyalled
righteousness Of humor, whose face was Momus,
mask in all its entirety. Fun OF the deepest
and broadest dwelt iu his eyes, and PLAYED in
every liae about his generous mouth, Too
broad the humoT often was, bordering ON
coarseness, nor always stopping this side of
Hulgarlty~-conveying often double foul mean
9ng, with leer that made the spectator laugh
even while he grleyed for offended taste and
deceney.
"Mr. Clarke is never vulgar, never buffoon;
his voice lacks that rich favor which was the
charm OF the elder actor His face has not
the others breadth of expression nor, in GER
tain phases its power, Burten's was not the
face Of gentle, kindly nature, while Mr..
Clarke's is a lace suggestive of q frank and
generous heart; and when smile breaks over
1t, 1T becomes as pleasant to look upon as a
broad summer landscape. This yerv refine.
ment ana tenderness in 1t are what will Ore-
vent MN nom ever successfully appearing in
those parts OF low comedy in which we have
been accustomed to see Burton PERFORM
JOIN E, OWENS.
After a sketch of Mr.. Ovens early life comes
this account of "Solon Shingle:"-
dropping into Broadway Theatre one even.
ing in the winter Of 1865, we had confirmation
OF the truth of bis rumor; for there upon the
stage on which the elder Wallack and a hos
Of noble players had shone, we saw that sam,
old Yankee ox-drlver descendant of Revolution
airy sres. Perker was the name by which W.
knew him in the days Of the Baltimore farm, bu
in the Broadway Theatre he was known a
gCo1o,, ol,,oo1o No N, o44or hat his mama hOu