The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-03
STAGE DOOR JOHNNIES
yevcral WclI-Known Actresses Tell
their Experiences with the Crew
OF Brnxen Dudes.

have decided to put a stop to the gathering
OF well-dressed loafers about stage doors
after performances, and have engaged men
to attend to the matter. Men with clubs.
When the ''Gaiety Girl was playing at
Days the stage door crowds Of dudes and
smashers" and hangers-on became so great
after performances that the annoyance was
a serious matter. 1t is said that it was
solved by a man with a note book and a
pencil. He stood In plain view, and, as each
Johnnie approached. scrubbed in the book.
One OF them asked him what he was up
to.
1T am a reporter he answered. "Man-
ager Dorney has asked me to write as fol-
lows for the papers:
The following young gentlemen were
present at the stage door of Days theater
tonight after performance and then to
give your names. Let me see. What is
yours? 1t will make a most interesting bit
of gossip"
Then the dudes vanished. But although
They would be ashamed to have it KNOWN.
there are hundreds of men who make it a
part of the business of their lives to haunt
the stage doors of theaters and ogle the
actresses as they pass out, says a writer
IN the New York Press. They generally
satisfy themselves with staring, and. per-
haps, smiling in what they think is an en-
klcluB way Dull SOIutllIleS luey 20 IuTtneT
and speak to the actresses. No matter
what they say-be it never SO commonplace
lit is an insult. They congregate and they
smile and they speak with no good motive.
They are not gentlemen and they are
towards.
1t il unquestionably true that they are
sometimes given encouragement. There are
foolish women as well as loafers in this
world, and the stage has its share Of them.
But, for the most part, those who receive
the advances of the stage door 'Johnnies''
are the cheapest members of the profession
chorus girls and extras walking
ladies' and such. Thus it is, in part, the
fault OF the profession itself that the self
respecting. women in it are subjected to
this nightly annoyance; but if the men who
are responsible for 1t had an idea of the
disgust and contempt with which they are
regarded by nine-tenths of the women
whom they strive to impress they would
What really important women Of the stage
think about the stage door men is limited
at In the little anecdotes which follow.
BETTER THAN CHICAGO.
Miss Gordon, of the ROB Roy company,
In her shepherds costume. was the first in
terviewed.
MY experiences have been many and
varied" she said, 'but some of them are
too funny to call annoyances and some
much too trif1ing. In New York nowadays
] think there Is less of the old-time stage
door nuisance. But in Chicago the men
simply throng around the stage entrance,
and tits not pleasant. We are annoyed
moro nowadays by letters than we are by
Johnnies. just imagine wading through a
dozen or twenty letters every night. Of
course, some are congratulatory, more are
ridiculous, and once in awhile one comes
that is lmnecile and yet pathetic. When /
was in Chicago i was the recipient of two
letters & day on an average from one man.
He was a German, and wrote the most am
bitious kind of sentences in a curiously
tangled German way. One began: Madam
You are one big angel He implored me
grant one smile to him, though only a gall
lery god, ETC., etc.. till it was quite weari-
Lizzie Macnfchol. also Of Rob Roy" has
had her worst experiences In Philadelphia.
II was ANNOYED greatly while there she
said, by a dude who sat in the front row
every night, and. after the performance,
waited to see me at the stage door. After
two or three such attempts had been made,
] made up my mind to settle his dudeship,
so had one OF the company, a big, burly
Ebe niISin,r n Wns r risns me next nex the doo doo md A ! new
trough of mortar was at hand. The natty
s little tb fellow was spoke poke to - me n;aa as I came out,
In. In another minute the chappie was
struggli,ng LIN IN the mortar his eyeglasses
gutter. and a generally surprised and
wrsthy expression on his inane face. 1 have
never seen Till SINCE. either at the stage
door or in the front row. I guess he was
satisfied. and l recall. his case with joy.
AT another time" said Miss Macnichol.
"a young man ANNOYED me by calling every
evening at the stage door and inqujrlng
about my health; don't look like an in
long paper, saying that / had had the mea-
sies, whooping cough, mumps, and all those
diseases; that. ! had been vaccinated three
times; that l hadn't dyspepsia, consumption.
nervous prostration or any other i'll. This
asked q doctor to sign. and the next even
fnO thu 6n0pknannr hap1a1 a. - 49, ---s-.
inquirer. He. too, has disappeared. When
first Went on the stage / was a trife fat
confidence was shocked when a favorite adj
mirer turned out to be a dreadful nuisance
and a very disagreeable fellow. I've grown
callous to admirers. They do not even an
noy me any more,
CIsSIE DOESN'T BOTHER.
Any tervid seeker after favors from
Cissie LOTUS at Roster & Biars would have
been discouraged had he met her leanine
on the arm OF her husband. She doesn't
bother her head about stage door hangers
on.
You see..' said Mr.. Mccarthy, ut is i'm.
possible to annoy her at the entrance fol
I am always with her"
Miss LOTUS is as pretty off the. stage a.
on and her face is sweet and refined ane
she is simple and unaffected in her man
mel. In England" she : said, 'althougi
isn't any attempt made for a persona
interview They tell me that it is differen
here, but OF course" and she glanced archl,
at her husbaris II don't have any chanc,
to find out
Anna O'Keefe in her gay uniform o
red and white is very entertaining. Sh,
has had lots of experiences.
Sometimes" said she, actresses ar
bothered the minute they are recognized il
the street Why, when 1 was playing witt
De Wolf Hopper's company, Miss Fox
Mr.. Hopper and I left the theater after
matinee, and much to our disgust an,
establishment were greeted by a larg
and enthusiastic mob. 1t was fame I sun
pose, but / must confess that l didn't lk
ION another matinee day-that of cours
was the ~favorite time for the curious
mob composed mostly of women extende
q block or so. Neither Miss Fox nor
cared to run the gantlet. so we sneake
to the front door, thinking to escape then
Yellow hair gave Miss Fox away. A or
went up. and the next minute we wer
scanapering in q most undignified name
through some side streets. We fnaIl,
worn out with the chase, darted into
big building. got into the elevator and OIL
dered the man to take us to the top foo
We were very much out OF breath, a trif
angry and extremely amused. AS it hal
pened the building was that occupied b
a newspaper, and what was our surpris
next day to see our escapade in the column
of a prominent journali".