Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-02


! SSSxs:EAs as it may seem, and, il
politics be O profession,
the milionaires who manipulate party wires
are numerous enough, in all conscience. But
there is no actor strutting his fretful hour who
can count million dollars his own. There
Is no manager, fixed or transitory, who can
quite o'ertop the million mark. In all the
history Of theatricals, here or in any other
land no millionaire player has ever appeared.
The fact may or may not have significance; it
Is certainly not capable Of successful denial.
Yet there are plenty Of rich men and women
on the stage. and this country contains all save
a very few Of them.
QUARTER OF A CENTURY
has produced the majority of these lucky ones.
| thirty years ago there were scarce half q dozen
actors who were able to reckon their wealth at
| SlOO, 0OO or over. There are at the lowest cal
caiatfon q hundred actors and actresses who
| are worth more than that today. One Of the
| very rich ones, whose head has siivered as his
purse grew golden. whose genial wit and gentle
manners have never failed to charm his audi
ences, and whose private life has been singularly
| pure and unobtrusiye, was good enough the
| other day to talk for little while about the
! finances OF acting, and more especially about
| the earnings of those who have been the most
! fortunate. lie was IN many instances speaking
| by the card and in all cases his calculations
were based upon a long personal acquain lance
| and accurate knowledge of those whom he re-
| ferred to.
THE TWO WEALTHY JosEPHs.
| ut will be as difficult to say ex cathedra,"
he promised, ''who is the very richest actor in
| America as it would be to tell who is the
wealthiest man in the whole world. But this
point make, and it is worth considering -
that all save ono of our confessedly wealthy
| actOrs are men who make Iauphter for o,lr
audiences instead of tears. The comic players
are almost invariably our prosperous ones. At
| any rate, you will find among them all the
financial sinews of our profession. l don't
| know whether Joseph Jefferson is richer than
Joseph Murphy, but do know that Murphy is
worth $3.50. 600 at the lowest calculation, and
II any actor in America can show larger
| figure than that to his credit he will be the
king pin of our rich Thespians.
| II doubt if Jefferson is quite so well fixed as
] Murphy. Not that he couldn't have been, by
any means, but there is this vast difference
| between the pair-that jefferson has been u
prodigal spender, after his fashion and luxuri-
| Gus liver, while Murphy has been exceedingly
economical all the ffty-three years of his life
Jefferson has been something of q Spectator;
Murphy has never made a monetary hazard
and probably never will make one. Jefferson
has lived like lord Of the manor, with Lou
isiana plantation and New Jersey villa to eat
up lots of his earnings year after year; Murphy
has roughed it in SUMMER trout fishing is his
one delight in life, and it does not cost
much to kill trout in these DAYS. So
In warm weather this semi-miilionaire
comedian disappears from the haunts
OF men actors, and wears out his old clothes
beating through thick woods with a guide for a
chum and blanket for his covering at night
He likes 1t and he surely Is entitled to enjoy it
! rs much as he desires. In winter time he
travels comfortably blu: not luxuriously, and it
Is famous fact among actors that Murphy's
hotel eNDensea Arr maid from he
| song books.
INVESTING EARNINGS.
Jefferson, say, could have been the richer
| of the pair If he had bent his mind toward the
accumulation Of vast wealth, but he has never
exhibited the slightest tendency in that direc-
| ton. He has been liberal to his actors paving
generous wages always; ana the salary drawn
| from him by the late Florence OF 81 500 or
| more week was the largest ever paid in
| America to any supporting actor. Besides,
| Jenels son has been charitable in an unostenta.
| tious way, and he has reared a trio OF sons who
have been credit to him. His money is partly
| invested in real estate, first mortgages and
government bonds. Murphys eccentriclty is
| manifested again in his Investments He
believes only In government bonds, and
safe deposit vaults, real estate
and mortgages have no charm for
him. He does not loan money at interest
Bonds, and only bonds, attract him, and if he
ives many years longer bis coupons, his song
| books and the $40 600 yearly profits from his
! tours will make him millionaire, and the first
| American actor to hold that distinction. JET
! fersons wealth, / think. will accumulate far
less rapidly, but he will leave his three sons
enough to keep them in profitable leisure all
| their lives.
| THE ONLY WEALTHY TRAGKDIAN
| "The American actor who has not grown rich
in comedy is Edwin Booth. The tragedians
wealth is an unknown quality. He has proba-
bly, never revealed the exact figures to any liy-
ing person. He never talks OF money TO his
| intimates, and doubt if he could tell Won on
] the instant just how much he is worth, ANYHOW.
But there are signs not easily misinterpreted
| which lead me to believe that he is not 80 rich
as Murphy and probably not worth more than
Jefferson That estimating Booth sfortune at
about $500, 600. Shrewd lawyers have helped him
to increase his holdings by judicious invest.
| ments In real estate. He is an extensive dealer
| in first mortgages at per cent and
be is in several good paying dividend stocks,
thanks to the tips of q Wall street intimate.
But Booth cares little for riches,
and, SO long as he continues in his present
apathetic mood, his fortune will increase
| comparatively slowly. The bulk of i. will
go to his married daughter, Mrs. Edwina Gross.
man of Boston--though, by the way, there are
rumors that OF late she and her moody father
have bad a serious falling out. The Players
Club, founded by Booth ut an expense Of
sluO, 900, and the Actors Fund Orphannge will
undoubtedly receive handsome requests wher
Booth passes away.
THE LIST OF SUCCESSFUL THEsPrANs.
| ''Stuart Robson, Billy Crane, Neil Burgess
Billy Hoey, Charley Evans, Nat Goodwin.
Sol Smith Russell, Edward Harrigan, Den
| Thompson, Oliver Byron JAS II. Wallack ant
| Richard Mansfield make up a rather divers,
| group of actors who are we'll fixed. All O
them, unless it be Mansfield. are worth 800. OO(
| or more. Burgess owns an $50. 900 apartment
house in this city, and he has other invest
| ments paying from to 10 per cent. He il
| easily worth $3.50, 600, and he will double tn a
| amount IT he lives a few years longer. Robson
| is good for S200, 200 or thereabouts, bu
| he is not q speculator, and SO hi,
| pile will grow rather slowly. HI
| has not been q spender. though, and he will
itsurely leave . respectable fortune. His wife
ovely May walaron, wall get her just share Of
and his daughter, Mrs. Alicia Crehore Of
b oston. Will not be forgotten. though she took
her frisky papas second marriage bitterly te
heart, SO twas said ut the time.
BILLY Crane il worth much %, il moi
] more, than his ex-partner. But Crane has Q
| penchant for Wall street. and I hear he hal
more than once scorched his fingers down
| there. Besides, he hasn't made money quite
30 rapidly since The Senator lost its first
| great magnetism, and his frequent tests Of new
playa of late have been rather expensive
Crane lives inexpensively while on the road
but in summer he likes yachting, aud yachting
costs money. There 10 only Mrs- Crane to