Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-01
HOW THE ACTOR is MADE.
Must Be Born for the Stage, Says
John w. Norton.

toner had John W. Norton backed into
a corner OF his office in the Grand opera
house.
"Tbe Great Maker of All makes
them," said Mr.. Norton.
"Is He always satisfied with the job 2"
"There is no reason why he should
not be. He makes actors, and not pre-
tenders. Sometimes l have had pre-
tenders on my hands to train-that is
to educate, anyhow to try to educate.
But actors are born, and not made.
Teachers may develop their talents,
nothing more. never have but one
student at time-and one student is
enough. AT present q very capable
woman is studying with me, and she is
developing talent that will count in the
future. cannot tell her name, but she
will win"
Mr.. Norton has had wide experience
in teaching aspirants for histrionic
achievements. "You can't make an
actor or an actress any more than you
can make poet" said he. "Those who
make success on the stage come from
all classes. They are not always born
from parents who are stage people. For
instance. there is Joe Jefferson, who
came from a family of actors; yet his
two sons by his first wife have no am
bition or bent for stage work, while
son by his second wife has decided abil-
ity in that direction. 1t is true that the
birth ability very ofteA skips genera
ton. 1t may be developed in the sec
ond or third generation. You will al
ways find that the born actor comes
from family of actors-maybe remote
in the ancestry, but the Unborn talent is
there somewhere"
LIKE THE woULD-BE POETS.
Mr.. Norton said further that editors
see in the applicants for space in print
the same class of people as those who ap-
ply for room on the stage. The one who
wants start on the stage is very much
like the one who wants to write for the
daily press. He or she, as a rule, has
an idea thai he or she is qualified for
the high rank-that the lower end of the
ladder is for some one else. Those who
know absolutely nothing about newspa-
per work apply for the highest places in
newspaper offices. Only the expert
enced man asks to get start on level
with the working force. He who be-
lieves that he is born actor has no pa
tience with the position OF an under
study. He has studied the star points,
and he insists upon going at once into
impersonations of the greatest charac-
ters.
Those who have made the greatest
success on the stage seem to have STUN
bled into the places that they occupy.
They may have had long-standing am
billions, but they did not strike the
level for years. Joe Emmett, Lotta, Sol
Smith Russell-dozens OF them were
hangers-on about the stage before they
made good name or money.
Sol Smith Russell came from a family
of actors. He was never interested in
anything else but the stage. When he
was boy in mercantile house it was
his habit to get all the boys he could
find about him and from box give i'm
provised characterizations. Acting was
born with him, yet it required years for
him to make mark.
Mary Anderson had natural bent for
| the stage. She was ambitious, and had
talent with ambition. She did not
come from parents who had been on the
stage. She was the pretty daughter of
widow of Louisville, and when she
made her first appearance she was de-
clared a failure. But friends stood by
her more in sympathy than for any
other reason. She was as persistent as
ambitious, and she won. A we'll known
editor of Louisville lived near the home
of Mary Anderson at this time. He
was mild-mannered man and became
interested in Miss Anderson. He
thought that she was lack-leg in ability,
but he wantrd her to have a fair chance.
n a paU O 70 ant i'm ri m md
he gave his personal influence to aid
her. After while she became famous
on the stage and misfortune befell the
editor. He had government position,
and when Cleveland was elected to the
presidency trouble came. The editor
was short in his accounts. Miss
Anderson was in another part
of the country, but she heard
of the trouble. She at once
made inquiry by telegraph and found
that the shortage had been made up,
with the exception of $4,000. Miss An
derson acted promptly in telegraphing
the money to cover the deficiency.
ACTOR AND NOTHING ELSE.
"An actor is generally fit for nothing
but the STAGE" said Mr.. Norton. "You
can't make anything else of him. If he
elbows any capacity on the stage, help
him along and some day he will strike
his class"
Said James T. Powers of A Straight
Tip: my observations lead me to the
belief that the man who is successful on
the stage is successful at nothing else.
He can't keep books, nor can he be a
salesman. Like your good shoemaker
he must stick to his last. I hardly know
how l got on the stage. / always was
infatuated with acting, and finally the
way opened to me. And here I am. So
are hundreds of others. The stage has
an education peculiar to itself. A man
cannot be good actor in any branch on
the stage unless he has brain. He may
not have an education from a college
curriculum, but he has the brain and he
has educated himself. The great actors,
like the great editors, were educated
within their professions. list. Louis
Republic.
sptritualistic Phenomena.