The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-25
SKETCH OF FELIX MORRIS
INTERESTING STORY OF THIS FA-
yORITE ACTORS EARLY LIFE.
He Passed Through Many vicissitudes
n Tragedfan-His Home Life.


To everyday folk there Is an undeniable
glamour about the stage. A mimic world
exists behind the footlights and a mimic
life goes on there-comedy and tragedy, So
cial trivialties and tremendous
events-the sayings and doings Of an ordi-
nary lifetime compressed into a few brief
hours. Those who do their part in this
epitome of human existence are peculiarly
interesting and il is hard to think OF them
as possessing an individuality apart from
that world Of romance in which they dwell.
1t is difficult to imagine them coming and
going, talking and laughing and affected by
difficulties and pleasures. just as other
people are affected. And yet, 1t often hap
pens that the man himself Is as great as
his art, and the woman, set apart by great
gifts, does not disappoint upon closer &C.
quaintance. All who are so fortunate as
to know him will agree that this is essen
TALLY true of Felix Morris. Personally, 1t is
doubtful if there is upon the stage to-day
a man who has so many admiring and
loyal friends, and he has them because he
has deserved them. and because he has
himself that fidelity of character that holds
them.
He has been called the Coquelin of the
American stage and those who are familiar
with the work OF both must admit the force
Of the comparison. There is the same ver-
satility, the same intellectual quality. and
the serene refinement which is the reflection
of innate character. While he has been iden-
titled with the stage in this county for so
many years, Mr.. Morris Is really of English
parentage. He was the son of an English
sea captain, of the fine old type. a man
of strong intelligence and of sterling
virtues, and who died in London only four
years ago. 1t was his ambition that his son
should be we'll educated, and to this end
he was sent to a school in Switzerland,
where he was not only wen grounded in the
common branches, but became proficient in
the classics, in mathematics and in modern
languages. His French is so perfect that
he has been mistaken for a Partisan and
during his last London engagement, where
he essayed the role of a French ne'er do
well, the purity of his accent was especially
remarked by the none too lenient English
critics. To thorough schooling, Mr.. Morris
has united the advantages of trayel, for, IN
addition to many journeys on his own ac-
count, he accompanied his father on fire.
quent voyages to the West Indies, to India
and Australia.
A PHYSICIAN FIRST.
1t was his fathers desire that he should
become a physician, and, like Chas. wynd-
ham, he graduated from the medical profess
sion to the stage. In his own charming
misunderstanding he writes as well as he
plays-he confesses that he conceived his
love for the drama while a student at Guys
Hospital, and calls himself "a victim to the
amateur theatrical craze'-"carried away
by the mild success Of efforts that were
magnified into glorious triumphs"-by his
fellows. knowing the modesty Of the writer,
this can be given a pretty liberal interpre-
tation. and one may be certain that his
fellows saw in their rudimentary efforts
more than a hint of the genius that came
to full perfection afterwards.
1t need hardly be said that Mr.. Morris
received no encouragement in the new ca
reer he had chosen for himself from his
father, to whom nIs change could hardly
have been other than a keen disappointment.
Failing of financial support from the same
source, Mr.. Morris determined to go to the
United States-that goal of all aspirants to
fortune, whose aspirations and income are
irreconcilably at variance. He went with the
rosiest hopes and the Hottest ideals, to adj
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perience-that at that tender age he was
amazingly deficient in worldly wisdom
and practical common sense"
He dreamed of course not Of that exquisite
comedy of which to-day he is our foremost
interpreter, but of nothing less than grim
tragedy. He, himself, realized that neither
his force nor figure was of a romantic
mold but, like David Garrick, he meant
to overcome these trivial disqualifications
and so make his triumph all the more i'm
pressive. There are few Of us who do not
cherish illusions of this sort, upon which we
keep a tight clutch, and of which we are
only relieved by a protracted series of hard
knocks. Upon his arrival in New York city
Mr.. Morris determined that his hazard of
new fortunes should be essayed In Albany.
He comments upon this decision concisely
and significantly: 81 could reach my des-
t~ination by a very slight outlay"
DISCOURAGING PREDICTION.
When he reached Albany the theatrical
season was over, but he found the manage
of the leading theater and to him he con-
fessed his aims and aspirations. The man.
ager endeavored to dissuade him, n adj
vised him to choose some other career,
which, with his education, he would have
had little difficulty in finding. But Mr..
Morris was not to be disSuaded. However
when he limited that he might inherit the
mantle of Kean or Macready, the Albany
manager put IN end to any dreams of in
mediate fame, assuring him that he might
consider himself lucky 'if at the end of
fourteen or fifteen years he might be earn
ing S14 or SIS a week"-a prophecy at which
!, Mr.. Morris now can afford to smile with
satisfaction. The manager promised to do
what he could, and, pending an engagement.
he found employment in a drug store, which
his hospital training had qualified him to
fill. Between mes he devoted himself to
the study of Hamlet" Claude Melnotte''
ard "Richelieu-"
Finally. his patience was rewarded; he re-
ceived a letter from the manager telling
him that there was a small and unobtrusive
part for which he had been cast-in the box
office! And from there TO the footlights ii
was but a step. He accepted the box-ofice
post, but his too abundant faith in human
nature-a faith that nothing ever has or
ever can lessen-made him an easy prey
to the swindlers who resort to every known
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