The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-30
DEAN OF The STAGE
OR FOR SIXTY-NINE
YEARS
HE BEGAN AT TIE AGE OF FIVE
Talks In Reminiscent sfraiu
of Actors and Early Days
of the Drama in New
York.

On Inc various Dill boards OF the city
for the past few days there have been
| bills announcing the appearance of J..
III. Stoddard as I.achlan Campbell in THE
Bonnie Brier Bush. To the theater-
goers of the present day of vaudeville,
| light opera and farce comedy this an
nouncement does not appeal in the same
manner as it does to the few who still
remain to lament the old days of dra-
matte art.
| Very few, as they hurry along the
pavements and glance at the notice, stop
to think of the man who is to star. for
they. for the most part, have heard lit
tie. if anything, concerning him. Some
may possibly be under the impression
that Mr.. Stoddard is a new actor start
ing upon his first tour as a star, but
in this they make a great mistake.
SiXty-nine years on the stage is the
record of Mr.. Stoddard, and forty seven
of those years have been in America.
He is today the oldest living actor on
the American stage, and what is still
| more wonderful, he is as much of IA
vorfte today as he was forty years ago.
He has seen actors in their humble be-
ginning, their rise, their triumph, and
their gradual but sure passing away, and
all this time he has gone steadily on,
making himself dear to the hearts of each
| succeeding generation in New York city.
Mr.. Stoddard arrived in st. Paul yes
terday and took quarters at the Windsor,
the same hotel at which he stopped
some thirty-four years ago when he Wis
tied st. Paul for the first time of which
he has a very distinct remembrance.
''The grand old man of the stage" as
he is termed in the profession, was writ
ing in his room when called upon by
T h G . b e last night. He arose from
his chair with the activity of young
man and walked across the floor more
like a man twenty years old than one
who had passed the allotted three score
and ten.
81 suppose you want some information
concerning the early stage" said Mr..
Stoddard. We'll 1 most assuredly have
been On it long enough to be able to tell
you something Sixty-nine years is a
long time, when you look back. You see
began my theatrical career when l was
only five years old. My father was an
actor in Scotland before me, and when
1 became large enough | went on the
stage, doing childrens parts l did child
parts until / became too old, and then
went to school, after which l returned
Immediately to the stage. ] played ia the
provinces, where I was considered to be
rather promising young man in the
profession, until | became imbued with
a longing to come to America. L came
to New York in 1854 and have remained
there nearly all the time since. / start
ed in Walack'S theater and continued
seven years
1.-THE idea of starring entered my head
and l came West as far as st. Paul.
| remember We played in Red Wing first.
1t was in the middle of winter and bit
terly cold. Ingersolls hall was the name
of a theater, and all l can remember
of it is that it was upstairs. When
entered the hotel today L Immediately
recognized it as the one in which L
stopped when here before.
1--WE did not have a very large house
the three nights that We were here, and
it was not very encouraging. We had
to stay here over Sunday, and L went
to an Episcopal church with Mrs. Stod
dard and my two children, who were
then very young. The usher in the
church recognized me, and after the
services were over approached me and
expressed his sorrow at the smallness of
the audience. He then proposed ben
fit and 1 assented. The result was that
we played to packed house of the best
people in the city. That little act Of
kindness has always remained in my
memory, and I nave always wished to
visit this city again. l don't suppose
that there are many here who renem-
Der the occurrence now.
Il afterwards returned to New YORK
and joined Mr.. Palmers stock company.
But those were the good old days. Now
everything has changed completely. We
weren't itinerant actors in those days.
regular stock companies were the thing.
We played ten months in the same house,
and never thought of rushing about the
country like they do now.
Times Have Changed
Il am often asked for comparison
with the plays and players of the pres
ent time, and / am always forced to ad-
nit that the task is beyond me. The
change has been too complete. There
were farce comedies then, no light opera
to speak of, and vaudeville was not
known 1t is the people that have
changed and the stage has had to
change with them. The great actors of
those days were great in the strictest
sense of the word. While in England I
never had the pleasure of playing In
London, the stars frequently played IN
the provinces so that had an OPP
portunity to come in contact with all of
them, and OF all the companies that |
saw there / do not think there was one
that came up to the same standard rs
did Wallack's, when first Joined it.
While there cannot be any question as
to these men and women and their artis-
tic work, 1 have my doubts whether if
they came upon the stage today they
would be appreciated. And | also think
that if the plays which are all the rage