St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-10

it we'll in mind that his satire should
never be keen at the expense of any of
the citizens in his town, but that it
should be telling and voluminous when
aimed against an enemy or a competitor
OF his locality. He was sort of
satlrical champion for the city
IN which he played. Under these cir
cumstanceS, is there little reason but
he should have gained the highest local
round of popular favor, Chicago had
John Dillon. st. Louis its Bill Smith.
Cincinnati its Ed Locke. Louisville and
Nashville their Wood Benson, Oleye-
land its James Lewis, Philadelphia its
Stuart Robson, Boston its William War
rem. and cas- h of the several stock COM
panies playing in New York had it's
favOrite comedian. Among one of the
best to my mind, who filled much of
New York with happy laughter for
many days, was James Stoddard.
CHARACTERS PORTRAYED.
In the earlier days James Lewis was
a most delightful comedian in such
parts as John Hibbs, Major de Boots,
Bob Sackett in Saratoga" ana the Pro-
fes5Or in The Big Bonanza" George
L. Fox was also an excellent comedian,
but eXcelled as pantomimist. Besides
James StOddard in New York was also
John Brougham. who was one of the
nd
writer's of comic plays of his time.
Brougham was an Irishman by birth.
and his own parents had wished to edu-
cate him for the medical profession, but.
adhering TO his own inclinatiOns, he
followed the stage as a profession. In
1865 he opened the Winter Garden
theater in New York, appearing as DIR.
Savage i'll his own comedy, entitled
Playing With Fire" During the last
few years of his career he was a men,
Der of Lester Wallack's company. Sew
eraI years ago | remember there was
considerable agitation over claim that
PrOugham was the real author of Lon
don Assurance" a play that Dion Bou-
cicault was credited with having writ
ten. The Dukes Motto" "POcahon-
tas. ''Leonora" and Belle Demonico''
were other Of his plays. He died in 1880.
l have many most happy reminls-
cences of that lOYaDle waG, Edward As
kew SCthern, whose draWl. lisp and
peculiar skip made the character of
Lord Dundreary in "Our American
Cousin" so irresistibly IudicrOus. His
conception OF that character was, of
course, a caricature, but its humorous
ness was neither coarse nor vulgar.
SOL SMITHS ADVICE.
OF my uncle, Sol Smith, l have no
recollection OF his acting, as he retired
from the stage when | was but five
years of age. l very well, however, re-
member him after his retirement. He
was one OF the earliest to recognize the
genius of Edwin Forrest, with whom he
acted long after that great tragedian be-
came famous. In talking with Uncle
Sop about 1867 | told him that l was
very sorry that | would never probably
have an opportunity to act with him,
AID also lamented the fact that was
fearful that L would never be able to
earn the amount of money by my acting
that he had succeeded in doing.
Take an earnest purpose and carry
it through to the end whatever hap
pens,' replied he. Il began my stage
career on a salary of Sc per week" My
uncle died IN st. Louis i'll 1869. [ have
since had the pleasure of appearing on
the stage with his sonS-my cousins
Mark Smith and Sol Smith Jr. The
latter died few years ago. The for
mer's son is the we'll known baritone
singer.
Among the most amiably delightful
comic actors, who kept well up with
every persistent demand for change,
was John E. Owens. Owens was
Iaii II
acers like Joshua Butterfly and
Scion Single. His Caleb Plummer,
in The Cricket on the HEARTH"
TO my way OF thinking was one of the
best ever seen upon the American stage,
being so strongly marked by truth and
beauty. Then there was John S. Clark,
who is brOther-in-law of the the late
Edwin Booth. Clark'S acting was
strongly marked by an eccentric. dry,
quick humor. Through well-made real
estate Investments in Philadelphia,
Clark became very rich man, and ever
afteTWard spent most of his time in
England. The critical opinion regard
ing Clark's abilities varied greater than
| regarding that OF any actor | have ever
known. His methods were eXtTaYagant,
as were those of all comedians Of that
time.
William E. Burton was the greatest
comedian OF his day. In ''Tootles" and
The Serious Family" and other plays
of this caliber, ne had figure that aid
ed him greatly. John E. Owens was of
the Burton school. l once saw Owens
| in an eXtraVagant farce called THE
Live Indian which was especially
! written Tor him, and in which he imper-
SOnated tobacconist'S sign.
DIR. PANGLOSS.
As | am soon TO appear for the first
time in my life in the character of Dr.
PangIoss III the comedy Of 1.-The Heir
at-Law,' a role which nearly every
prominent comedian of the last forty or
fifty years has assumed, l have been
thinking over the methods employed by
various comedians | have seen in this
role. It seems. oddly enough, that
nearly every comedian VINO has PLAYED
| this character has adopted differ
| ent methods. Owens made him
/ purely eccentric. Warren made him
/ pedantic. Brougham made him
/ an austere and Ofttimes boiSterOus
i tutor, while John 5. Clark made him in
| dOlent. TO my mind Joseph Jefferson
! is the greatest DR.. PangloSs that ever
/ quoted the bards behind the fOotiights.
| Mr.. jefferson gave to this character a
! soft, refining undercurTent that made
! him congeniai ana lOYable. 1t is such
[ GFiOOilGNc III i44to tA4tt0 ElObC " Lit LldG
! Mr.. jefferson is The most finished and
| artistic comedian the American stage
| has ever seen. Nearly all of the favor
| ite comedians Of the past were
! most excellent in comedy when
| that comedy required broad
| treatment aud boisterousness. Most of
| them came from the same school that
| did Mr.. Jefferson, ont, unlike the latter,
many of them did not keep up with the
progressive band wagon. Nearly all of
the low comedians of the past lacked
intermingling of pathos ana comedy
| that make the transitions in Mr.. Jeffer-
sons acting so delicately beautiful. The
comedians of the past like Burton and
Den DeBarr lacked pathos, and were
| simply eccentric and comic. In my
] ticr, IoAcrcnr, r,nI.ts,l-cc a. III