Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-10-30
r YI1lklf6 AN ACTOR.



my first appearance occurred at
Sadler's Wells Theater, London, ii,
1888. =. 4. 4 5@ ~.
How did you happen to seek the
ooards?' was the next question.
4 well, had always been extremely
fond of the theater, and had a num-
Der of friends who were iii the pro.
fession: Constant companionship
with these whetted my appetite and
made me ambitious. The consequence
was that ! visited good performances
as often as could, carefully studied
the methods of the great actors of
that time as exhibited in their strong
est roles, and then began to work on
my own hook. conscientiously did
q good. deal Of it, too, because I &C
quired sufficient confidence to under
60 the ordeal OF a public appearance.
Finally my chance came, was al
lowed my selection of apart, and I
chose Othello." r.. - = ,&5s
when did you come to America?"
"Let me see," said the old man,
meditating in a cloud of sraoke. cit
was in l849. In that year Charlotte
Cushman visited England I went to
call upon her, and shall never forget
how she impressed me- The power of
determination written upon her face
was wonderful. And I may say here
that have seen no photographs or
paintings which did her justice. Asan
outcome to our interview she engaged
me for her leading support. She pos
sessed a will of iron, and the course of
rehearsals through which we went pre-
vious to her English debut were both
exhaustive and instructive. In o.
tober of the same year she returned to
America. | accompanied her. and
opened at the old Broadway Theater.
The play was The Stranger, Cushman
appearing, of course, as Mrs. Halter.
When she returned to London in 1850
l declined to make the trip with her.
America had taken so complete a hold
ON me that decided to remain here.
My first heightened engagement on this
side was for four years in the stock
company OF the Walnut Street Thea
ter, Philadelphia" :.
"What did you think of Cushman?"
"She was a genius-a woman pos
sessing the expressive force of a man.
Obstacles were unknown to her, or, at
least, SO easily surmounted that they
might as we'll not have existed. Her
Meg Merrilies captured London by
storm, and an excited crowd packed
the theater whenever she appeared.
Her makeup was a marvellous study,
and from her first entrance she swayed
the audience as readily as if she had
been some shriveled old bag with
fairy wand who had infinite power
over them. At one moment they were
wildly applauding, the next they were
mopping the tears from their faces.
She was a woman to inspire those who
were acting with her, believe me-"
II presume you appeared with all
the principal actors of the day while
you were in England?"
eyes, I played with Macready,
Charles Kean, John Vandenhof, Ellen
Tree, Helen Faucit, Mime. Vestris and
many Others
Glow did Macready impress your"
He was grand, and owned one of
the most magnificent voices I ever
listened to. His power in strong dra~
matte passages was thrilling, and his
pathos indescribable. I never wit
messed representation of the Lady
OF Lyons equal to that which he and
Helen FAUCET used to give. It was in
deed q rare treat. He looked every
inch q prince, and she was an ideal
Pauline. Macready s Othello, Cassius,
Richard II. and Claude Melnotte prob
ably presented him at his best, al
though there were portions OF his Mac
beth which fairly took your breath
away. He was always conscientious,
always sincere. They tell Of him-al-
though ! do not know this to be a
fact-that in different portions of his
plays where he was obliged to appear
suddenly on the stage in a strongly
excited condition, he would frequently
spend three or four minutes working
himself up behind the scenes before he
rushed into the presence of the aud
ience."
Glow didyou regard Helen Faucit?"
"'sAs almost every one else did-as a
charming artist. I previously re-
marked that her Pauline in The Lady
of Lyons was exquisite. It was not
so fine portrsiture, however, as her
Rosalind in MUD h Ado. Her rendition
OF the latter role was one of the finest
creations ever given to the stage. She
understood the secret of being per
fectly natural without being common
place, and she never missed one parti-
Gle Of the poetry Of Shakespeare y #
What are. your favorite parts, Mr..
COu1dOck2'' '5sf r..