Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1890-06-12
"Have BeenS."

The number of "have beens" is con-
stantly increasing on the stage, and one
cannot but marvel when one hears some
celebrated name brought up, how sud
denly and swiftly chaos has come. The
popular life of an average star performer
is wonderfully short. Names that would
seem to be worth untold money instantly
sink into Obscurity, while new favorltes
take their place This is particularly SO
with women on the stage. 1t is only In
very exceptional instances that woman.
excepting she be of the higher class OF
tragedy, can stay in the front rank o!
popularity for more than seven or elght
years. Look, for instance, at the great
popularity of Catharine Lewis until lew
years ago, and how wantonly she threw
it all away. Managers bid for her serv
ices at any sort of terms; now 1T is naro
to say where she is, what she is dolng'
even whether she is dead or alive. her
sister. Jeffreys Lewis, was also great
favorite at the same time. She is around
somewhere playing with some third or
fourth class combination, growing enor-
nous as to girth and coarse as to voice
and manners. When she appeared in
Esmeralda a good many years ago, q
more poetic vision of loneliness could
hardly be imagined.
Naturally the attractiveness OF women
suffers largely through the simple process
of ageing. Katherine Rogers, Rose
Eytinge, Maude Granger and Linda Dietz
are examples of women who have attain
ed their present condition of have
beens'' through no other fault than that
wears have Overtaken them and left them
behind in the race. Another in this cat
egory is sweet Agnes Robertson, now
old and only remembered by the public
when occasionally divorce suit against
her husband comes up.
Lolita, that most popular OF American
soubrettes, has at last reached the limbo
of forgetfulness. Maggie Mitchell is just
on the verge. Mrs d. P. Bowers has
crossed the line. The once all-pOwerful
name of Lydia Thompson is now hardly
strong enough to get the offer of a sal
airy, and vet few women have lasted long
er IN beauty of physique. Her once time
companion Pauline Markham, never note
worthy as an actress, but greatly cele-
brated as beautiful woman, is to be seen
on Broadway, still with the remnants of
a handsome face and that same f1axen
hair, the sheen of which was always so
brilliant and alluring, but she is not
wanted by managers.
"A SCIy ClCSCI SOuUlCtIC WIN ACu OuI VI
public notice with remarkable swiftness,
is Alice Harrison, and her dreams of star
dom have disappeared. She is now play
ing small part in The City Directory.
JanaHschek hobs up every now and then
serenely, but her day is past. Marie Pres
colt is making spasmodic effort for recs
ignition in one night stands, while Helen
Barry seems to have disappeared some
where. Mrs. George s. Knight, once
Sophie Worrell, is transforming some
where down south, but is out of the race.
Comic opera seems to lose the celebrities
more quickly than any other form of en-
tertainment. There is probably not a
single woman to-day celebrated in that
line of business who was known in it ten
years ago. Lillian Russell is the fore
most of them all, but ten years ago she
was in Tony Pastors, and had not adop-
ted her new profession, and even during
that ten years the vicissitudes of her ca
reer have been great indeed. There have
been moments that she could find no
manager who would give her salary. 1t
is only earnest and honest work that has
brought her to the fore again.