The record-union., 1892-07-16
ACTORS OF WEALTH.
Fortunes That Have Been Made
On the Stage by Stars.

| Murphy the Richest OF All Actors
Little Lolita and Her Investments
Jefferson Well or How Success
Came.
Every profession known to us to-day
has its millionaires-except the profess
! sion of acting. There are millionaire
lawyers in plenty; there are half dozen
millionaire doctors, without going away
from Gotham to name them; there are
millionaire editors, strange as it may
seem, and, if politics be a profession, the
millionaires who manipulate party wires
/ are numerous enough in all conscience.
But there is no actor strutting his faith
! 1ul hour who can count million dollars
as mis- own, says writer in the Washing
ton Star. There is no manager, fixed or
transitory, who can quite overtop the
million mark. In all the history of the
Atricals, here or in any land, no million
ARE player has ever appeared. The fact
may or may not have significance. 1t is
certainly not capable Of successful de-
nlal. ct there are plenty Of rich men
ana women on the stage, and this cOun-
! try contains all save very few OF them.
a quarter OF century has produced the
majority of these lucky ones. Thirty
! years ago there were scarce half q dozen
actors who could reckon their wealth at
100000 or over. There are at the lowest
calculation one hundred actors and act
resses who are worth more than that to-
! day. One of the very rich ones, whose
| mead has silyered as his purse grew
! golden, whose genial wit and genUle man
hlN flglN
| enceS, and whose private life has been
slngularly pure and unobtrusive, was
! good enough the other day to talk little
/ While about the finances Of acting, and
/ more especially about the earnings OF
those VINO have been the most fortunate.
lie was III many instances speaking by
( the card, and in all cases his calculations
We're based upon long personal ac-
/ qualntance and accurate knowledge of
! those whom he referred to-
! 1t Will Oe as difficult to say, ex cathe-
! dra," he promised, ''who is the very rich
! est 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-tha all save one of
| our cOniessedly wealthy actors are men
| VINO make laughter Tor our audiences in
! stead OF tears. The comic players are al
most 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 S45000O at
/ the lowest calculation, and if any actor in
America can show a larger figure than
that to his credit he will be the king pin
OF our rich Thespians.
Il doubt if Jefferson is quite so well
! nXed as Murphy. Not that he couldn't
I have been, by any means, but there is
this vast difference between the pair
! that j etterSOn has been prodigal spender
after his fashion and luxurious liver.
while Murphy has been exceedingly eco
nomlcal all the titty-three years OF his
/ lie. Jefferson has been something of a
/ Speculator; Murphy has never made a
monetary hazard, and probably never
Will make one. Jefferson has lived like
lord OF the manor, with a Louisiana
! plantation and New Jersey villa to eat
! up lots of his earnings year after wear;
| Murphy has rOughed il 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
millionaire comedian disappears from
! the hauntS of men actors and wears ont
! his old clothes beating through thick
woods with guide for a chum and a
blanket for covering at night. He likes
! 1t and he surely is entitled to enjoy it as.
| much as he desires. In winter time he
! travels comfortably but not luxuriously,
and 1t is a famous tact among actors that
| Murphy'S hotel expenses are paid from
! the sales of his song books.
u Jefferson, l 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 direction. He
! has been liberal to his actors paving gen
erous wages always, and the salary drawn
from him by the late Florence, of 81, 800
| or more week, was the largest ever paid
IN America to any supporting actor. Be-
| sides, Jefferson has been charitable in an
unostentatious way, and he has reared a
| trio OF sons who have been credit to
/ him. dis money is partly invested in
real estate, first mortgages, and Govern
1 ment bonds. Murphys eccentricity is
manifested again in his investments. He
| believes only in Government bonds and
safe deposit vaults; real estate and mort
cages have no charm for him. He does
! not loan money at interest. Bonds, and
only bonds, attract him, and if he lives
many years longer his coupons his song
books, and the $40, coo yearly profits from
his tour will make him a millionaire, and
| the first American actor to hold that dis
| tinction. Jefferson's wealth. l think.
! will accumulate far less rapidly, but he
| Will leave his three sons enough to keep
| them IN profitable leisure all their lives
The American actor who has not
! grown rich in comedy is Edwin Booth.
The tragedian's wealth is an unknown
! quantity. he has probably never re-
| Yeaied the exact figures To any living per-
! son. he never talks Of money to his
| lntlmates, and | doubt if he could tell
! you on the instant just how much he is
worth, anyhow. But there are signs not
easily misinterpreted which led me to
DelleVe that he is not so rich as Murphy
and probably not worth more than JEFF
/ IGTSOn. lhat pSfImaTJrlCr RnnfhSc
/ tune at about 100000. Shrewd lawyers
! nave helped him to increase his holdings
| by judicious investments in real estate
| lie IS an extensive dealer in first mort
! cages at per cent. and he is in several
! good paying dividend stocks, thanks TO
The tips OF a Wall-street intimate. But
Booth cares little for riches, and so long
as he continues in his present apathetic
| mood his fortune will increase comDara-
! lively slowly. The bulk of it will 90 to
his married daughter, Mrs. Edwina
! Grossman OF Boston, though, by the
| way, there are rumors that of late she
and her moody father have had a serious
falling out. The Players Club, founded
! by Booth at an expense of SIOO, 900. and
the Actors Fund Orphanage will un-
| doubtedly receive handsome beouests
when Booth passes away.
Burgess. Billy Hoey, Charley Evans.
Nat Goodwin, Sol Smith Russell. Ed
ward Harrigan, Dem Thompson, oliver
! Byron, James III. Wallick and Richard
Mansfield make up rather diverse
| group of actors who are well fixed. All
| OF them, unless it be Mansfield, are
worth 100000 or more. Burgess owns
an $4,000 apartment house in this citv.
4 and he has other investments paving
from to 10 per cent. He is easily worth
I Sz50,OJ0, and he will double that amount
II he lives lew years longer. Robson is
| good for 100000 or thereabouts, but he is