Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-05-29
FOOF.LIGHT MEKORLES.
WhS Some of Our Great Actors
Rere aMd AaHe Risen From.

WIN Some OF Our Great Actors
were and Have Risen From.
There is no profession in which genius
OF sven ability will assert itself iu spite
of ell opposition more than upon the
stage. Adventitioos circumstances can
do but little for actors. They are the
public's servants, aud their rank is fixed
by public opinion. Most Of them have
risen from low estate, and the following
recollections OF the origin OF some OF
them will be interesting:
Honor and fame from no condition rise,
Act well your part, there all the honor lies.
Edwin Booth gave his first public per.
Torrance in Baltimore. He did not play
Hamlet on this occasion, but 10 con.
junction with John G.. Sleeper, or as he
is known now, John S Clarke, the "a
nous comedian and brother I. Flaw Of
Booth, made his appearance 10 a negro
minstrel show; admission, twelve and a
half cents. Clark was on one end and
Booth on the other. The latter was then
q fne banjo player.
David Garrick was in the liquor bust.
ness, He sold wines and liquors in Lon.
don, but he was not a successful mer.
chant. He failed, and then went on the
stage, and became the greatest actor and
manager OF his day.
Nell Gwynne. the beautiful Nell, who
after her triumpbs on the stage ruled the
court Of Charles III, began life as an or.
ange girl 10 the theater.
Tyrone Power, the great English actor,
was a ballad singer "a the streets before
be vent on the stage
The elder Mathews appeared in public
as q stage coachmsn, and stood with his
cab on the stand near old Drury, where
be amused the boys with bis wonderful
power of mimicry. he became n of
the greatest actors Of the English stage,
ana was the first man that ever gave an
entire entertainment alone.
Edmund Ke2n was the greatest OF
English actors. His right name was
Carey. The king of tragediaus made
his first bow to the public as a pautomi,
mist and dancer.
Edwin Forrest, the greatest Of Ameri.
can actors, was once leaper and tum.
bier in a circus. When a young man hC
started out with a dramatic COMPANY
hat broke up somewhere in the South
and be Joined a circus to get through.
N. N. Ludlow, OF actor and manager
now eighty.thrse years OF age, was a dry
goods merchant He is engaged now 10
writing his "reminiscences Of the Ameri-
can stage.
John Mccullough, one of the greatest
OF our living actors, began life rs a gas
filter.
John Lester Wallack was an oficer in
the British army, although born insNew
York in 1918, At sixty years of age he
is still playing young meus characters.
Lawrence p. Barrett, known then as
Larry. Brannigan, began life as o bell boy
at a hotel in Detroit.
Frank Mayo, whose right name is Ma.
guire, was at q time q waiter 10 a res.
t~anrant at San Francisco.
James S. Hackett, the grest"Falstof +"
kept a dry goods stole at Utica, in New
York State, where be failed in business.
He then married an actress named Miss
lie Sugg and went on the stage. He
made his frat reputation in Yankee
characters.
DR.. G. r. Spsulding was . pharmaceu-
fist at Albany, New York. He wentintO
the circus business with Charles Rogers.
After making money ct that ha became
a very successful theatrical manager.
Barney Williams, or Bernard 0'Fla.
herty, was q regular gutter.snipe in New
York When q boy. His principal Oecu.