The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-03-31
PART VI.

CefLaAllV OF me eQElnOclldl
storm. and when they ar
rived together as they fire.
Guently did. we all felt the conjunc-
ton to be peculiarly appropriate. He
. was neither young nor good looking,
yet no one could truthfully assert that
his engagements We're lacking in inter-
est-indeed, some actors found them
lively in the extreme. Charles w
CouldOck was an EngIishman ~ birth
and had come to this country with the
great Cushman. he was a man OF I'M
questioned integrity truth
tul. warm hearted; but being of nat
uTaliy quick and irritable temper, in
stead of trying to control il he yielded
himself up to every impulse of veXa-
ton or annoyance. While with ever
growing viOlenCes he made mountains
out Of mOlehillS, and Wnen he had just
cause Tor anger he burst into par
oNysms of rage-even of ferOcity--that
had they not been half unconscious
acting, must have landed him in
madhOuse, out of consideration for the
safety of OtherS-While, worst of all.
Ike too many of his great nation, he
was prOfanc almost beyond belief; and
profanity. always painfully repeliant
and shocking. is dOubly so when u
comes from the lips OF one whose Sill
Vering nair shows his days have al
ready been long in the land of the God
whom he is defying. And yet when
Mr.. CouldOck ceased to use plain,
everyday OathS. and brought forth
some homemade ones, they were oaths
of such intricate construction, such
grotesqJe termination, that they
wrung a startled laugh from the most
! unwilling lip
: In personal appearance he was the
beau ideal wealthy farmer. He was
s1uarely soldly built, of medium
aeight-never fat. His square, deeply
lined, even furTOWed face was clean
shaVen- His head. a little bald on top,
had a hin covering of curly gray hair.
which ne wore a tribe long; while his
suit Of black cloth-always a size or
two TOO large for hiu1-and his never
changing big hat of black felt, was ex-
cuse enough for any mans asking him
about the state of the crOps-which
they often did. and We're generally ur-
gently invited 10 go to hottest hades
for their pains.
On his brow there was a deep and
permanent scowl that seemed cut
there To the very bone Two deep,
heavy lines ran from the sides of his
nose to the corners of his lips. where
they suddenly became deeper before
continuing down toward his chin
while a strong cast in one of his steely
blue eyes gave "A touch OF malevOlence
to the severity Of his face.
The strong point of his acting was
in the expression of intense emotion
particularly grief or frenzied rage. He
was utterly lacking in dignity. courtH-
ness or subtlety. He was best as
rustic, and he was the only creature
/ ever saw who coUId shuttle" with
out being absurd or offensive.
Startling Advice
To an Erring Actor.
Gen orally. if anything went wrong,
MIR. COuldock's rage broke forth on the
instant but he had been known TO
keep a rod in pickle for d Cay or more,
as. in the case OF q friend of mine-at
least it was the husband of my friend,
Molie. He had played Satanic in The
Merchant of Venice" and in some way
had offended the star-whO cursed him
soto NOce at the moment of the Of
Tense. and then seemed to forSet all
about the matter. Next morning at
rehearsal nothing was said till it's
close when M. Couldock quite quietly
asked my friend to look in at his
dressing room that evening before the
play began.
Poor John was uneasy all the after
nOOn-stiii he drew some comfort from
the calmnesS of Mr. COuldOckS man
ner. Evening. came-JOhn was before
the bar. The star seemed particularly
gentle-he removed his coat leisurely
and said:
You played Satanic last night?''
Yes. sir
And your name is-er?"
ogden, sir replied John.
''Ah, yes-Ogden. Well, how long
have YOU been at it. Ogdeng
s-Abont three years. answered the
I,7w confident and composed prisoner
az the bar.
Three years Hum! Well, viii you
let ne give you & bit Of advice, Og-
why. yes. sir-I shall be glad to
listen TO any advice from you" earn
estly protested the infatuated one.
Welt" snapped the star, rather
sharply. ''I want YOU to follow it, as
well as to listen to it. Now. you take
some mOney--you have some L oney
saved. Z suppose p"
.Oh. yes. sir" answered Johr.
Wen, then" ne turned his queer eye
Oh hinl--he took a fun breath, well,
then, you just get some of that money
and you go TO a hardware store his
rage was rising visibly. and you buy
a good. sharp Ratchet and then ] want
YOU to take il home and chop your
+. id fool head Off" and, ripping oft his
vest, ne made furious charge upon
the almost paraIyzed ogden, clOuting
him from the room, while roaring ike
bull.
He had played one ~set of plays so
long he had lost the power 70 study
quickly, and he was so ill-advised once
as to attempt new part on rather
short notice. The play was a miseTa-
hle tumble of impossible situations and
strained. irigb-fown language-and OF
all absurd things, Mr. COuldock at
etempted to play a young Irish hero,
with a love scene-in fact. he was sup
Dear heavensi what a sight he was. in
those buckskin riding breeches. His
legs We're not beyond suspicion as TO
their straightness-that cutaway green
coat and the dinky little comical hat
looking so maliciOusly "iarky," perched
over his fiercest eye He forgot all his
lines-but he never forgot his pr6fan-
ity. and that night IL took on a wild
originality that was simply CONFUSING.
in one scene he had to promise 70 save
his beloved Ireland He quite forgot
the speech. and being reminded of it
by the prOmpter, he roared at the top
of his voice: Il don't csrel What the
devils ireland 10 mel DIN Ireland,
] wish it and the man that wrote this
play were both at the bottom of the
sea. with cock-eyed sharks eatin'
'em.'
We were always pleased when Mr..
CouidoclS was accompanied by his
daughter. Eliza COuldock. bearing an
absurGly marked resemblance to her
father, OF course could not be pretty.
I've thin. curly hsir-the fixed frown-
the deep lines Of noss and mOuth-the
square. fiat figure. all -1ade of her
slightly softened replica of the old gen.
tleman Her teeth were prefix
though, and eher hazel eyes we're vehy.
brilliant. She was we'll bred. clever
and witty. and her affectionate devo-
f5ou ~ her father knew bo1rnde-