New-York tribune., 1900-04-22
A VETERAN ACTOR.
RECoLLECTIONs OF HERMAN VEIN.
From The London Evening News.

From The London Evening News.
M Vein is seventy yeaTs old and nd looks & ~ fty 1o IN
White falling in typical student fashion over his
.Onders & His II & figure is spare re and md erect The step
at the age Of twenty-two ne made wild assaults
Melnotte Young Norval Ricnelieu and shylock
u Yes. sir says Mr. VEIN. gently ospeetive,
circuit in 1852, when had teen years on the
n vet m e TO qeK ana 2afh 6esTs4 gp the those
dss dnys Of golden hope life ana goath seem 70 be
p@ring Of the the way va II IN se"'e ana
Those were the days of work-when man
played ten different parts in many days. and
would jump from jeremy DiGdler 10 Shy lock in
when he had been ten years in the profession he
wa was IA an actor In fact as well as in name com
afterward added the finish born of his later expert
Modern day people talk sneeringly of the old
school; but the old school produced some pretty
any one who can fill their places. In those times
men starved M IN the study OF their profession
pendous salary of Fl week. In these days OF in
who can dress suit if it belonged 10 him
anu anu Walk graceIully and easily throGsh 'soeety
part reeds no other qualification for success ana a
''It is a delight to talk of my early days. because
after all they the most interesting to me. / am
indebted to Charles kean for my frs ntIo4uction
had taken my M A. al the University Of Pennsyl-
vania then; as now. one of the finest institutions
1T was, just the old story. had Edwin
cided that the stage should occupy the rest OF my
NE. My family were Philadelphians Of the rigid
type and you can well picture the effect of my
announcement They tried persuasion; they tired
Charles H. Vein. a merchant. who is remembered
in Philadelpha to this day packed off Berlin
a letter of introduction to him ard started for
ct easier in those days to get an opening;
any manager was willing 10 pay l2s. or los week
Kean, greatest of all stage managers three months
to m place me me-; York under old Josiah Eande one
ion it was 70 pay the company. in person. on the
week. and it was there that i suffered nv frs;
and last attack from the enemy most dreaded of
all others by the actor-stage fright.
ne P2rl was Una. OF me 6INfalng Sergeant m
the knees was literally ice cold with frFht. And
the echo Of a sound made Tong and long go.
ns and when oame BACK to e mg % IN
9G ~ IN ,b my geH coHeT agd only Just
ut was two years later when ! again received
the part from Charles Kean. with whom I then
he said. with laugh.
This engagement with Kean began after. my
Sir Edward Mortimer. Menotte, and Sir Giles
~ Apd Ill had sm%st FORGOTTEN season at Edin
acter actors that ever trod the boards
The first intimatlon that he'd any ability at all
wish every actor spoke blank verse IS you DO: and
The old man had been standing in the Wings dur
ing one of my scenes. and I off he beck
ero~ed % Youn@ @ goun % The prase of yS S
Thousand critics could not have meant as much to
those words from him
Mr. Vein. asked to recall his first distinct
success in London. turns 70 his management Of tho
Surrey Theatre. in 1859 when he played Louis NJ
and Hamlet. and was greeted by the press and the
nuhlic of those days the "daWning genius OF the
English stage"
But shall probably be best remembered if I
worth the remembrance he SAYS. with his
gentle scholars smile. for Dan1 Druce the Part
| created. and which of all others love the most
and rerhaps have little fondness for Sir Grey
de Malpras. the poor relation Of the De Mon
tTeviIles. in The Rightful Heir Among other
characters in which I think earned much praise
were those of Sigurd. tho Hunchback OF The
Sen Of the Soil And IL have made any success
il Shakespearean parts il is because preferred to
treat Jacques. Macbeth. Othelo. anad Hamlet
human creatuTes-not puppets stalking
the stage for the simple exploitation Of the authors
lnes
But there. enough Of me- he exclains rising
from his chair with gesture Of impatience. "The
public, l presume, cannot he interested in the
I m. I have lost Of my ambition none of
the vigor of my youth. II is very agreeable TO
to know that my friends intend TO celebrate my
fifty years apprenticeship to the stage-for In
but should feel happier could I be permitted to
nv bread in the regular
"A good fellow said in thouEhtless
that I Urlu"kv actor e. Jonah to
a lie. my record ir successful plays will prove
But the lie spread like a cancer; and now. for
nearly eighteen years, have I labored under the
curse of superstition that taints and blghts the
stage. No manager has had moral courage suf
fcient employ me-and the public easily fOrgets
And thus. in these days I poor, where I might
perhaps have earned cOmnetenCe for my last
DAYS. But. thank God. there is at least thing
I have learned in my broken old age-the lesson OF
forgiveness