The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-14
BRIEF STAGE FORTUNES.
ACTORS RARELY ABLE 10 KEEP
THE MONEYsTHEY MAKE.

Large Earnings for n Few Years, Then
Poverty, the History of Many "a Star
Some Notable Examples In the
Ca SEES of WcIl-known Actors and
Actrcsses-The Canses-
Two men stood reading the bill
boards in front of a vaudeville theater.
They came to the name Of one of the
best-knoWn American actresses adver-
tised along with the trained dogs and
other features of the entertainment.
Wouldn't you suppose" one of the
men said to the other, that she could
afford to take little rest now? To
my positive knowledge she began to
act last August in a melo-drama. and
two weeks before that she had been
playing the vaudeville theaters. All
that time she drew a good alary
Now should think she would feel the
need of resting a bit before she began
again, particularly as the sort of work
she did last year was very exhausting
and carried her through all the small
towns of the country
The actress bore one of the names
that have been notable in the history
of the American theater for the past
quarter of a century. A score Of years
ago she was the most admired actress
in this city and was at the head of
famous stock company in the golden
days of it's career. She met with more
or less success as star, and she has
always stood in the first rank of her
she has received large sums of money
and should. in the opinion Of most peo-
pie, have earned by this time COM
Portable fortune The man to whom
the question was put had a large ac-
quaintance with the theatrical profess
sion in it's private life, and he ex-
planned the situation in these words:
''She is acting during the summer
because she knows that her compensa-
ton has reached it's climax and is
hereafter likely to decline rather than
increase She needs money, for in spite
of all her years and labor, paid al
ways at very high prices, she has
come to middle age, at least, with
nothing but the same capital that she
had as woman of twenty; in fact,
with rather less than what she had
then. At that time youth was on her
side, and beauty; now she has reputa-
ton and experience, but as rule the
great rewards of the stage go only to
youth. In the harvest that players
make most of the fortune that the wo-
men of the stage can ever hope to ac-
quire is secured in their youth.
Il remember when this particular
woman lorded 1t over what was consd-
cred the finest collection of actors in
this country. New York was at her
feet, and her earnings at that time
could not have been much less than
three hundred dollars a week. That
state of affairs existed for ten years at
least and she afterwards knew con-
siderable prosperity when she became
a star Several years ago | had occa-
sion to call on her in fiat on the up
per West Side. There was no carpet
on the floor, and two or three cheap ar
ticles of furniture We're all that the
rooms contained Later she had ben
eft, succeeded in paying off many
pressing debts got another engagement
at a big salary, and was apparently
prospecting as much as any woman on
the stage possible could who had
reached her age.
Eat the end of that season every
body heard that she was hard UP again
and looking for a summer engagement.
1t seems that run into Wall street
had eaten UP her earnings for the win
ter and left her facing the summer
with the necessity of employment as
means Of livelihood. Early experience
had taught her nothing. Every cent
had been swept away that she had
earned during her entire career, and
instead Of putting aside her earnings
from this years work she gambled it
all away and found herself high and
dry again.
THAT, my dear man, is the profess
sion 1t would be as useless to try to
alter its generally improvident habits
as to cry for the moon. Some actors
keep the fortunes they earn, but that
number is small 1t Is the opportunity
of acting in these vaudeville theaters
that has kept several well-known ac-
tors going for the past few years, and I
sometimes wonder what would have
happened to them had it not been for
this means of smoothing over the hard
end of the road. Most of them are APP
preaching the end of their careers, but
are no nearer financial independence
than they were at the outset"
This pessimstic tone seemed exag-
gerated to the other man, who could
not realize that so many actors of &C.
lebrity and great reputation ended |
their career without having earned the
material rewards to be expected. The
earnings of prominent actors are very |
large during the years of their popu
larity Even those who achieve no |
great fame earn as much in month as !
the average man in commercial or pro- i
fessional life occupying the same rela-
tive position would earn in three |
months. Undoubtedly the salaries of !
actors, as well as the profits as stars, |
are overrated. For instance, the lead
ing man in the average New York the
atrical performances nowadays does
not recsive 1915 a week, but more near
ly third of that amount, and the
same thing is true of the actresses in
the leading roles.
Neither Henry Miller nor James K.
Hackett, who were the last actors to
leave New York stock companies to be-
come stars ever received more than
$125 a week, and Maude Adams, now the