The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-15
GRIr BEHIND THE SCENES.
Actors who PIny when III and While suf-
fering Great Pain.

fering Great Pain.
The courage with which the injured mem
bers OF the "Cyrano de Bergerac" company in
sisted upon playing their roles after the Brook
Ign accident is only another proof OF the nerve
with which actors endure physical suffering
rather than disappoint the public and the man
ager. One hears q great deal about staRefolk
and their eccentricities but their heroism isn't
often exploited. and they themselves have a
fashion of making light OF it.
Mrs. Brown Potter was recently obliged TO
give up her work in Dumas's Three Mus
keteers " on the first nights OF the play but she
fought hard against the illness. and, even in
the acute stage Of pleurisy, with her temrera-
ture at 1040. and her every breath an agony.
she insisted upon acting, and entirely con-
eealed her suffering Mrs Deerbohm Tree,
notice. has n reputation for stOicism. and has
appeared on the stage when so racked by rheu.
she could not walk from one side of the stage
to the other, Beerbohm, Tree himself. not to
be downcd by, his wife. has a ine record with
managers, and is warranted to keep engage
ments unless dead and buried. An attack Of
congestion Of the lungs almost got the better
OF him several seasons ngo: but he took n room
next door to the theatre. and every night. IN
spite nf physicians, orders and WARNINGS, he
from. his bed TO the stage, where he played his
role in The Dancing Girl
Ellen Terry,.s martyrd3m is chronic, for she
suffers very frequently from the most violent
form Of neuralgia. and night after night will
play, with tho utmost ease and grace, while ell
groan.. Dusr Is another OF ncuralgia's victims.
and R6janc, with an absccss in her side. never
acted regularly during years when, on account
OF serious spinal trouble, every movement Of
her body caused her excruciating pain. She
easily for her: for al! she, needed to do was to
drop the mask and show her own suffering.
One Of Sothern's plays came. near izzling out
on its first night. because of Virginia Harned'S
illness IN She vas seriously ILL., The physicians
bed, and that an attempt to do 50 might DO
fatal, The manager was wild. Sothern was
w95FIied' but ESSglin 4s Harse Te sen E1srsrGG4 fh fSF s sEs
says she will do a thing. she does it.
When the night came she had a temperature
and pulse that made the doctors hair stand on
and went on. while two doctors watched her
from the wings and Toured restoratives down
her her time sh each Gnd ZINE m d she tett n the stage T. HAL
she was doing. but went through her part
mechanically At the end Of the evening she
scored a hit. and the audience knew nothing Of
Painful accidents often occur on the stage
and are borne with such sang froid by the suf-
ferer that the audience has no idea anything
the incident that even his fellow actors did not
know anything had happened nnttl after the
NC uuu elueu' he klthl iaiuht piohe MS arm
IN the second act of a play. finished the act, had
his arm pulled into place. and went on with the
play as though nothing had happened.
1t was not long ago that Mantell dashed his
hand down upon n table and ran n spindle clear
through his palm and out the back Of his hand.
Without even ~faltering in his hines he held the
spindle with his left hand. pulled his right
hand free. wound his '%kerchief around it and
went on with his part as though his nerve had
never been tried. Evidently some members of
the profession are more convincingly heroic in
private character than in heroic roles. and
probably all of them count more or less
martyrdom in the years work.