The San Francisco call., 1896-08-09

hole in the tights blackened with soot
| from the blue.
.The chief features to be considered IN
makeup are the wig, the hair, the eyes
the nose and the teeth. The wig is the
most important ingredient in eooo
make-up-a makeup which DISCUSSES the
actor and gives natural effect. Ii is q
very difficult matter to get good wig.
You have to consider the actors physical
peculiarities as well as the type to be
represented and the idiosyncrasies OF the
particular character. The wlgmaklng
business Is a speciality. only ieW sue
ceed at it, notably the late RICK
ards of Covent Garden, London; clark
son of London, Meyer OF New YORK
Buch of Phiiadelphia and Hepner OF
Chicago. Richards was the best perhaps.
| For twenty years he made wigs for cele-
brated character actors of London. Many
of nv own wigs have been made of late
by CIarkson, a clever workman. | usually
give him the sketch, preparing it myself
or getting it prepared by friend. Some
times fifteen or twenty visits are neces sary
before the thing suits. A vast amount of
pains and patience is required. The wig
wear in the role of Schumard is the third
Ihad made for the part CIarkson made
it, but he made two others before was
satisfied.
"Hair on the face is the feature next in
Importance. This is attached to the skin
by spirit gum. Grape hair is used and
the actor can often make himself up in
this respect better than the wigmaker
could do it, except in the case of full
| x,s4
hair or they may be colored in. Charles
Matthews used to say that a stage mus
tache never looked so well as when it was
painted on. But that was before the days
of a perfected makeup such as we know
now, and the painted mustache must
needs have been very small affair indeed
| to keep up an illusion under fire of opera
glasses.
Speaking of paint reminds me that the
invention of grease paint marks an i'm
portant advance in the art of makeup
revolutionized methods. 1t is made chiefly
in Germany by Leichner, and in smaller
way by Meyer in New York. Harmless
Yes, think so. l never suffer any injury
from it, though rouge which has yer-
million as one of its ingredients is not
harmless, 1 should say. The basis of
grease paint is wax, and there is little
olive oil in 1t and oxide of zinc, with such
coioring matter as may De required. But
the pigments are harmless. AS a rule a
grease that closes the pores is used before
the paint is applied.
1.-THE nose, the ears, the chin, the cheeks
and the teeth are all the subjects of make
up. You may take out all your teeth, as
it were, or you may put in others. Years
ago played in Black and White, imper-
sonating a negro. l had a set of teeth
made to fit over my own. These, pro-
truding, gave me the mouth features or
the negro, full lips and ALL but when
| went to speak l found / was unintelligible.f
It required months practice before
could be understood, and then | had the
negro accent almost exactly-or the critics
kindly said / had. The witches in Mac
beth, for instance, have false noses, false
single teeth or tusks, the latter made of
| card board attached with cobbler's wax
81 almost always use noses. l can make
them up in any shape and can defy detec-
| tion even in the dressing-room. There is
a nose paste made by Leichner and Meyer
which is very well in its way. but for long,
! L
meet this defect | struggled for years to
get something that would do, and at last
succeeded. I can make any kind of nose.
Not so long ago was playing the Jew in
After Dark / made up nose to suit the
part. One night at the close of the ner-
formance I was sent for by a Jewish gen.
tleman who wished to meet me. divested
myself of my makeup and went to him.
saying: We'll, sir, / am Dodson; what
can do for your He replied, L want Mr..
Dodson, the actor But l am be-. No,
no. reioined the Jew, placing his finger
upon his nose, he is one of us He had
been completely deceived by the makeup,
and it is really remarkable how small and
fine are the modelings of the nose needed
to get particular effect. / may say am
believer in noses as indexes OF character
use made nose as Schaumard.
! stAll sorts of eyes can be made up, A
squint eye or wall eye is the result OF
fastening piece of fine muslin on the
upper lid. cumming it down and painting
false eye on the whole Squeers, in
Nicholas Nickleby,' is usually made up in
that fashion.
'In making up one has to consider the
/ size Vi Lie tucdGeI, tQe Strengtl OF the
electric light and gas and the effect to be
produced at the same moment in the front
of the audience and in the highest gallery.
The makeup must not be too strong for
the former or too weak for the latter. ]
generally try my makeup several times
before the dress rehearsal, but l don't
know whether this is usual.
.'Of course need hardly say that make
up includes costume and all its details,
gloves, hat, glasses, shoes, etc. All these
things have to be closely regarded with q
view to symmetrical and artistic whole.
But that, | take it, is pretty generally un-
derstood even by the people who know
little of the intricacies of character make
up.
ut is rather curious fact that am
often accosted by people who say, why,
Mr.. Dodson, / thought you, were an old
man. They can scarcely believe that ]
am young man. / always consider this
mistake kind of oblique com mpliment.
"Who are most successful in character
| make-up? / should saw r. M Holland