The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-16
GRIT BEHIND THE SCENES.
Actors Who Play When III and While suf-
fering Great Pain.
(From the New York SUM-

(From the New York Sum-
The courage with which the injured
members of the "Cyrano de Bergerac'
Company insisted upon playing their roles
aIter the Brooklyn accident is only an
other proof of the nerve with which ac-
tors endure physical suffering rather than
Glsappoint the public and the manager
one nears great deal about stagefolk
and their eccentricities, but their heroism
isn't often exploited, and they themselves
nave fashion of making light of It,
Mrs. Brown Potter was recently obliged
70 give up her work in Dumas Three
Musketeers" on the first nights of the
play; but she fought hard against the
illness, and, even in the acute stage of
pleurisy. with her temperature at 104 de-
grees, and her every breath an agony, she
gGsa1eo ner suffering. Mrs. Beerbohm
Tree, Who took up the part of Miladion
at twelve hours notice. has a reputation
Ior stoicism, and has appeared on the
stage when SO racked by rheumatic fever
tnat every step was torture, and she could
not Walk from one side of the stage to
be downed by his wife, has fine record
with managers, and is warranted to keep
engagements unless dead and buried. An
attack q congestion of the lungs almost
got the better OF him several seasons ago,
put ne took a room next door to the the
atre, and every night, in spite of physi-
clans orders and warnings, he was
wrapped UP like mummy and carried
from his bed to the stage, where he
played his role in 1.-The Dancing Girl.
Ellen Terry's martyrdom is chronic. for
she suffers very frequently from the most
violent form of neuralgia, and night after
night Will play, with the utmost ease and
grace, while enduring pain that would
make the average man groan. Duse is
another or neuralgia's victims, and Re-
Jane, with an abscess in her side, never
missed nights performance Clara
Morris acted regularly during years when,
on account of serious spinal trouble,
every movement of her body caused her
excruciating pain. She often said, Jest
lngly, that scenes of agony came easily
LOT her, Tor all she needed to do was to
crop the mask and show her own suffer-
ing.
One Of Sotherns plays came near fig
znng out on its first night because of Vir-
III. The physicians said it would be inn
possible for her to leave her bed, and that
an attempt to do so might be fatal. The
manager was wild. Sothern was worried.
Explanations were prepared for the pub
lie; but Miss Harmed announced that she
would play on the opening night When
sne says she will do thing she does it.
commands, entreates had no effect on
ner When the night came she had a
temperature and pulse that made the doc
Tors hair stand on end, but she dressed,
was carried to the wings and went on
while two doctors watched her from the
wings and poured restoratives down her
tnroat each time she left the stage. Half
the time she had no definite knoWledge
of what she was doing, but went through
her part mechanically, At the end of the
evening she was completely delirious. but
the play had scored hit, and the audi
ence knew nothing of the cost
Painful accidents often occur on the
stage. and are borne with such sang froid
nby the sufferer that the audience has no
Idea anything has happened. Booth one
night, in falling, ran. a nail into his side,
put so completely ignored the incident
that even his. fellow-actors did not know
anything had happened until after the
Toll,
his arm in the second act Of a play. an
isned the act, had his arm pulled into
place, and went on with the play as
though nothing had happened
IL was not long ago that Mantell dashed
ms hand down upon a table and ran a
spindle clear through his palm and out the
PACK ., OF his hand. Without even faltering
I left hand. pulled his right hand free,
on with his part as though his nerve had
never been tried. Evidently some mem
oers OF the profession are more convinc-
iingly heroic in private character than in
heroic roles, and probably all of them
count more or less martyrdom in the
years work.