The Washington times., 1901-07-07

another who has turned some of his in
| come into accumulation. Denman Thomp-
| son would be as well off as Russell or
Crane if he had not lost a considerable
| part of the heavy profits of his tours. An
| actor who made great deal and then
| sunk it is Neil Burgess. The same thing
| is true of Edward Harrigan. The Irish
( comedians, Andrew Mack and Chauncey
| Olcott, l should put down at $4,000 each
| for the season, their managers making as
| much more. Peter +. Daley is there
| abOuts. The same figures will do for those
| German mimics Louis Mann and the Rog-
| erS brothers. Am j getting too low in art
| Well you asked me to talk business.
| Weber and Fields. two more of the Ger
| man dialect actors, have joint fortune
| OF Sl0tVJ, made by attention to the busi-
! ness side of their efforts. You said you
| were going to write an article on acting
| as a profession Very well-doesn't it re-
| quire Just as much of professional ability
| in these broadly comic artists to make
| folks laugh as it does in jefferson or
Crane to do it politely? To get back into
| the irreproachably legitimate field could
name you many stars of good degree
| such as Helena Mod jeska James O'Neil
James A Herne, Henry Miller, Sarah Cow
ell lie Moyne, James X Hactett Louis
James, Kathryn Kidder. and Robert Man
telI-Whom we managers do not regard
as money makers" Yet those ] have
mentioned in that class clear $4,000 apiece
annually on the average. That isn't so
! bad for calling once despised and ILL
paid. There are a dozen to twenty actors
and actresses getting the equal of that in
salary with resident or travelling COM
panies with no uncertainty about it, but
| there's the distinction of starring to take
into account
- Coming down to the season lust
closed. the expert continued. 'undoubt-
edly William Gillette has gained more
money than any other person on the
American stage. That isn't saying he
drew more into the theatre. but his in
come combined that of the author of the
play he used, the star actor of the leading
role, and half the profits of the business
enterprise. No doubt the aggregate was
200 week for forty weeks. and it may
have been much more. | believe that the
most remunerated dozen American ac-
tTesses during the same sea son were, in
the order name them, Maude Adams.
Leslie Carter. Julia MarlOwe Minnie Mad
den Fiske. Olga Nethersole Viola Allen,
May Irwin Annie russell. Mary Man
nering. Ethel Barrymore. Ada Rehan, and
Henrietta Crosman. l am sure that Miss
Adams came first. Mrs Carter SECOND. and
Miss MarlOWe third in earnings ii not in
their individual shares. Miss Adams and
MIS- carter We're made stars of by their
managers, and no outsider knows the
terms of the contracts, but ] fancy that
each actress Is between $4,000 and $4,000
better off than she was a year ago. Miss
Marlowe controls her own business. and
all the profits Of il accrue to her alone
so ii is possible that she goes ahead of
either of the others in money for her own
her own manager, but her season was
shortened by Illness. and | understand
mat she got out with about so. 600. Mrs
F'lSkc' ) case battles estimate owing to pc
culiar circumstances and how far up
toward the top of the list her name be-
longs Is hard to say. She had a difference
as 10 terlj.s with the syndicate that con-
trClS most of the hrSt-Erade theatres in
the country, and through which practi-
cally all the successful stars of the first
magnitude make their routes Her hus-
band savagely Gssailed the six men COM
posing the so-calIed trust. They had him
indicted on n charge of libel and declined
to let the actress into any Of their thea
tres. That put her to much inconvenience,
because she had to use cheap houses. On
the other hand, she raised the prices in
them. posed persistently a martyr in
the cause of dramatic art, and. being a
line actress in popular play she drew
generally crowded audiences. AS she di-
vides with no. manager. il is possible that
she stands fifth in the list or even fourth,
among the female stars with, say, $500
to $4,000 But | don't know. Miss Irwin
is thrifty and invests shrewdly. Viola
Allen WIS in only the second season
under her first contract, and Annie Rus
sell, Mary Mannering, and Ethel Barry
more were still newer as stars. but these
four did well. / should say that the years
average net income OF the twelve ac-
tresses was not less than $4,000 When
you add to that the reward of fame. is
it any wonder that there is lot Of hard
struggle for the dramatic prizes?'
i asked the manager why he had not
mentioned Richard Mansfield or Edward
II. Sothern. I have left them to the last
he replied, because they are exceptional
in a business way. They have deliberately
sacrificed money in he furtherance OF
their ambitions. They have burned heaps
of money to the glOry OF themselves and
Shakespeare. Mr.. Mansfield's production
of Henry v was so costly in the mount
ing and employed so large Ompany of
actors and figUrants to plav and trans
port, that no one can tell whether or not
he makes both ends meet, nolwithstand-
ing that his audiences have been gener-
ally large. lie might have made $40 90 to
S6J 600 in the season If he had used PLAYS
no more than ordinarily expensive. As ii
is. he may not have cleared a cent. He
has acquired tolerable fortune. however.
having more than retrieved the losses Of
his early ventures Mr. Sothern was
making money fast and steadily with mol
when he determined 70 bring out
Hamlet handsomely. He invested I'm the
admira bic but not businesslike enterprise
every dollar he had saved. The outfit was
burned While he was on the tour and in
stead Of finishing the season with borrowed
scenery and costumes-as he had ample
excuse to-What did he do but have a
complete duplicate made of the original
mounting | really wish YOU would quote
me as saying-foT no other phrase conveys
my meanlng-that Mansfield and Sothern
make me tired.
From London comes the rumor OF a
revival Of The Belle of New York" with
Edna May in the role Of Violet Grey and
Harry Davenport in Dan Daily 5 part Miss
Mays English venture IN THE Girl From
Up There has been an out-and-out 6uau-
cial failure. as was predicted by persons
At all eognizant with the theatrical situa-
tion IN London before the Frohmau COM
pany crossed the water. Miss May has
made a personal success. but Londoners
have refused to accept the Iibretto Of
Hugh Morton or the music OF Gustave
KerkeT. And so Manager Frohman is con-
sidering an offer for the services of Miss
May in a contemplated revival Of THE
Belle Of New York" which appears 10
retain a degree of popularity with the
Britons that is quite surprising The
Belle" will tour this country once more
with y. J. Connolly as Ichabod Bronson,
the reformer from Cohocs \. Y.
It is not expected that Olga NethersoIn