Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-11-20
JOHN MCCULLOUGH.
Remi niscences of the Actor by General
sherman and Lawrence Barrett.
[St. Louis Cor. New York Times.l

Lawrence Barrett, who was the partner
of Mccullough when the latter was the
proprietor of McGuire's opera house in San
Francisco, were both interviewed Mon
day concerning the dead actor. Gen.
Sherman said:
81 knew poor John well. 1t was in Cali,
forna in 1869, when Mccullough was
managing Il theatre there, that began
our acquaintance, which has been steadily
maintained since. He was then Just as
jovial and pleasant as he was in the later
years of his success"
"When did you last see him ?" the gen
eral was asked.
"About year ago, l think Anyway,
it was Just after he had the trouble in
Chicago, when he broke down. He came
| to st. Louis and called to see me- no.
ticed when he entered the room that he was
the same John Mccullough, physically,
and for the first few sentences his mind
seemed all right. He went on then, in a
complaining way, to tell me how he had
been ill-treated i'll Chicago, and repeated
ly said that he was perfectly able to carry
out his part. AS | looked at his ply
| sique would have believed him la / lie
not fallen occasionally into strange 81
! lence, when his face assumed Il ritiful,
dazed expression. This was the last time
/
played after that"
What about the charge that he was an
lmitator 2"
| Oh, that is absurd John MCCULLOUGH
was an educated man and Il man of great
native force, and in every sense of the
word was great actor. All actors are
more or less lmltators, and if Mccullough
| initiated Forrest In some instances the
example was grand enough to warrant
! it,"
"What characteristic impressed you
most forciby ?"
His intense earnestness, his desire to
do thoroughly whatever he undertook, to
master It, and, again, his great good
nature, for he was u kindly man of the
truest kind. He was very warm person.
al friend of President Garfield, at whose
house i'll Washington he frequently visit
Ell. But then. for that matter, al, the
doors in Washington were open to Mr.
Mccullough during the time lived there.
He was easily pleased, and came to me
about two years ago to tell me that he
had secured a book of Shakespeare
plays, an humble volume from which he
first got his inspiration for the stage.
asked him what there was about it that
made him prize it 50 highly, and then he
told me of his early days, when he served
an apprenticeship with charmaker in
Philadelphia: of an old English workman
in the shop who had this book of Shake
Spehie, anu vi now he was always spout
ing from it of how he himself came to
catch the old mans affection for the
drama, and, finally, of how he CHANGED to
come under the notice of Edwin For
rest, who gave him some books and told
him to educate himself. He told all these
things with great satisfaction at the
! thought that the old book was really his
own at last, and l could not fail to be i'm
pressed at the time with the simple ma
| ture of the man.
(Which play did he excel in ?"
I'm my opinion he was at his best in
King Lear The other plays-'Nirgin-
lus' and The Gladiator'-ne ere too bloody,
and although he acted them to perfection.
to my mind his greatest success was
| Lear
The first news of his selection as u pail
bearer was conveyed to Lawrence Barrett
on Monday at the Southern hotel II
have just read the news of Mr. McCul
lough's DEATH" hei said II was not
prepared for it so soon, because of the
favorable reports sent out regarding his
condition. I did not expect him to recoy.
er, but was not prepared for the news
of his death. suppose his accession of
strength and intelligence was only the
comes before it goes out. Poor McCul-
Tough | knew him, perhaps as intimat ely
as any one else"
"When did you meet him first ~
Il first mex him in 1860 in Boston. Mr..
Nee ullough was holding an interiorposi-
tlon at the Howard athen9um. Daven-
port WAS manager, and played leading
parts. | was second to Davenport. | re-
member distinctly McCulloughs first
step toward promotion. The play was
The Dead Heart aud it happened that
Davenport was suddenly taken i'll. and
Mccullough was called on to take his
part at short notice. In a few hours he
studied up the part and acquitted him
sell wonderfully well. His success on
such snort notice was the talk of the
town ANA gave him his first start Soon
atterwarM he attracted Forests atten-
ton, and, going to Philadelphia became
a member of his company. He supported
Forrest some seven years"
when was it that you formed part
nership with him ?"
81 think it was about 1867 that i went
to California. Mr.. Mccullough was then
the leading actor at Maguire's opera
house in San Francisco, and was an i'm
mensely popular favorite. The matter
of building Il new theatre was preached
and | was asked to associate myself in the
management ofit A magnificent house
was built, at a cost of $4,000 by Ralston
Cullough until 1870, when | wanted to
pursue my own career, and | sold my in
terest to him and left the city. Soon
after this Mccullough started on his
starring career, having first made sew
eral tours. The last time l saw him in
his right mind was when he returned
from his Yellowstone trip. 1t is II little
singular that the last timeI saw him was
here in this hotel during my engagement
last year. He came to me at breakfast
asked him if he would see me play
No. said he, i have seen enough of you.
Then he remarked something about my
new play, and, thinking that he meant
Francesca da Rimini,' spoke of it, and
he said. No, The Shadows of Great
City He afterward cunningly attempt
ed to conceal his blunder, but his condi-
ton was saddening"
Is there any one who can take Mr.. Nc
Cullough's place in his line of chrrac
ters ?"
"No one that can think of. OF course
no one can take any other mans place
but it was believed that the heroic char
acters, such as 'Virginius,' 'Corioanus,
'Spartacus,' and Others died with Forrest
They were revived by Mccullough, but
, believe the characters were not revived
, really rs far as the public cared for them
But it was McCullough's own personalit.