Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-08-03
Rise and Fall Of a Star.


Miss Marion Taylor-born Mary Ann
Taylor-was 10 be An actress. The
fates had decrecd t. and she very
strangely. aged with the fates Even
her parents. though good. God fearing
people. were willing that she should
exhibit her manifold gifts and charms
to the paying public at sl.j0 apiece
for orchestra chairs.
The trouble began when she was at
school. Her teacher (himsef an elo-
cutionist of no ordinary gifts. &c. dc.
his great specially being the Queen
of the Nay advised her TO leave
school and study for the stage. In
fact he himself was so Kind as To-
coach her some in Lady Macbeth"
Queen Catherine" "Medea" and like
parts. Mary Ami mean Marion
was at that time bashful, awkward
girl Of sixteen years so that the wis
dom of the teachers selection of parts
was beyond question:
After that the desire to shine forth
as q star was ALWAYS with her. Having
taken n few lessons ir elocution from
lady teacher of the art, she read
several times at church entertain
ments. and her great success with the
critical audiences that are ALWAYS pres
ent at such places encouraged her in
her ambition.
During this time. too. she improved
in her appearance and manners. and
by the time she was eighteen wears
old she had quite Il reputation as n
beaaty IN her native city. Any of her
friends would have told yeu at that
time that her iigUre was perfect; her
carr iage. grace itself; her head, Greci-
an; her voice. the soul of music. These
things taught her the folly OF opening
rs Lady Macbcth;" she knew now
that Jul ct was her forte.
When she saw various managers take
out various ambt Gus yong ladies for
starring tours. with elaborate printing
and wartrobes filing several trunks
the young ladies generally furn shed
the cash. but size didn't know about
that--she wished that heaven had made
her such man. The fac. that they
usually came IN soon aga n-sometimes
minus the trunks-did net bother her
in the least, for she knew that she
would be more successful with the
public
The advertisements of the new stars
that spring up 20 It'll the place" Of the
4 ~ 49, ,,s, ! 49,
uounce that man is found for every
emergency. Though this does not
apply 10 managers, Marion at last
found hers. Mark Downes was the
son of a man that dad growR rich in
this way: He came TO III. (the birth
place of both Marion AMI Mark when
it was not yet out of its swaddling
clouts and started a general supply
store GU 3 small scale. b. attending
TO business (much of what he charged
OH his books a. ''molasses' would not
have borne inspection bv the prohibi-
tory officers of that dal). and by in
vesting his pr0hts in real estate in the
growing city. lee was in "A position be-
fore We make his acqua ntance TO retire
from active bus iness life. The father
was coarse, gar and illiterate man;
the son. though he had profited bv
liberal education. showed traces of his
ancestry
lie had been acquainted with Miss
Taylor but short { me when it was
apparent that he had out run all his
competitors in the race for the lovely
ones favor. Whether or not his am
pie income had anything to DO with
10 A., vnz1la hot Iaao
this narrative To be Interested in
Marion was to be interested in her de-
signs on the stage, and Mark was soon
az enthusiastic over her powers as she
herself But there was more method
in his madness, for it was not long be-
fore he had made arrangements to
take her out for tour. This was
quite in his line, as he augmented the
allowance his father made him by specu-
lation. at which he was highly sue
cessful; and he felt that this new ven-
ture would far surpass anything he
had before undertaken. And it did
but time enough for that
Being unaequainted with the theat-
rical business himself he had the good
sense TO secure really capable mana
ger TO rect affairs for him. A COM
pany was engaged and put in re-
hersal; theatre in one of the large
cities was hired for week; the com.
ing star was worked up i'm every way
known 20 the experienced manager
But we will pass over these prelimlna-
ries. which arc, after all. too well
known TO be of interest To any BODY.
and come 10 the night of Marion
first appearance.
OF course she was TO open rs "Ju-
liet." IL was her choice. and the in-
fatuated hacker would have allowed
her to play "Falstaff' il she had so
elected. AT the rehearsals she was
vcry attentive TO the directions of the
stage manager. SO far as business was
concerned, but she required no in
struction from any BODY in regard 10