Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-01-24
-"-@-@"717|777
ALAS. rOoR PAULINE.
Miss MnrkI,am. OF "Biack Crook" Fame.
Destitute

Pauline Markham. over whose beauty
and clever acting New Workers raved
twenty years ago. when she da22led
them in The Black Crook" and whose
diamonds We're supposed to be worth a
kings ransom, is now living in actual
want in cheap Brooklyn boarding
house. AS she represented ii herself to
a Commercial Advertiser reporter: "If
1t were not for the Kindness of the lady
who keeps this house l should have to
fell back upon public charity"
Such is the irony Of fate. Twenty
years ago this woman had the world at
her feet, and one famous critic went so
far as to say that her voice was like
velvet and that her figure was such that
she might supply the model for the miss
ing arm Of the Venus of Milo.
Many uns and downs the actress has
had, and she spoke of them freely and
hit sadly, albeit she pluckily placed the
best face possible upon matters
1t must not be at all imagined that
Miss Markham has lost the beauty that
first made her famous. Time and trouble
have. II IS true. left their marks on her
face, bur she is vet a Very beautiful
woman. Her voice is clear and resonant,
her manners are as expressive. her
eyes as bright and her smile as sweet
as in earlier years. The crownng part
OF her misfortunes came when she fell
into an excavation in Louisville and
broke her leg. She sued the contractors,
and she got a verdict for $1,000. But she
did not get the money. and the case Is
before the court of appeals. She may
get ii some day, and in the meantime
she is out of an engagement and in some
straits.
Miss Markham came to this country
at the time Lydia Thompson did, in the
carly seventies, and she became at once
a marked figure among that famous
| troupe Of burlesGuers. II was not how
ever. until 1872, when Jarrett and Pal
mer produced "The Black Crook" at
Niblo's, that Miss Markham spranr into
full public favor "The Black Crook"
had been played IN New York some,
years prior TO this, but not on the scale
that marked the production in which
Miss Markham appeared In ii she be-
came famous almost in night and
New York went wild over her. 1t was IN
this production that Bonfaute, the fa-
nous ballet dancer, appeared, also Bes-
sic Sudlow, Lizzie Kelsey, Mfs. Wright
famous In her day, and others. Among
the men were Charles Morton. now dead
who was the Black Crook; Ben Magmley
and others.
at seems a strange thing TO say"
Miss Markham said to the reporter, but
/ really believe that II would have been
better for me if l had not scored the
success | did in The Black Crook You
see the public after that made up its
mind that l could do nothing but bur-
lesque. And Yet ] was considered n
good actress IN serious parts in En-
gland. There I played in the same cast
with Henry Irving Ellen Terry, James
L. ToOle, Charles Wyndham and Mrs
LahOuchere-she was not Mrs. La
| bouchere then, YOU know. Henry La
bOuChere advised me when ] was about
to leave for America that I would do
better to remain at home where | was
| fast coming to the front / did not take
| his advice, Well. my former cOmpan-
| Ions are at the top of the ladder and
am-well. 7 am here,
II played in The Black Crook in Phil
adelpha, bur it was in New York that
| did nearly all my work in this piece. I
| in pink Dominoes' and Robin Hood
had previously appeared in all the old
stock plays-"The Lady of Lyons and
others like it-and had played In all
round parts, But the Americans knew
| me only as a star in The Black Crook
"The death Of James Fisk was a sad
blow to me. lie was arranging to mount
melodrama on magnificent scale in
| the Grand opera house, In which ] was
to star when he was shot. John Stet-
| son was always a good friend OF mine,
| but he became angry with me over a
| trine, and I lost my best friend l can
only hope now for some engagement, /
| believe am as capable of work as ever,
and all I want is an opportunity"
| Miss Markham has been twice married.
| Her first marriage was to n Major Mac
| Mahon, a Southern man, This was a
| happy one. After Major MacMahon's
death she married an actor who played
in her company This union ended in
| divorce