Evening star., 1902-04-12
LEADING LADY
WHAT AN ASCETIC ACTRES
has TO DO.
A Martyr to Diets, Exercise, Hard
Beds and All Sorts of
Annoyances.

/ Written for The Evening Star
The life of the popular actress is not what
1t used to be, and the stage-struck girl who
| possesses an unconquerable fondness for
| bonbons and soda water for hot waffies
and maple syrup, for chocolate cake and
| mayonnaise dressing, for rocking chairs
and divan pillows and historical novels, is
going to think two or three times before she
dedicates her life to Shakespeare and to the
problem parts.
II her love for the drama Is very real she
must then make up her mind to one long
! modification Of the flesh, and she must not
| let mere study of her parts and interpreta-
tions usurp her time. She must take
thought of what she eats and drinks, and
set her table as sparely and uninvitingly as
though she were an early Christian anchor
ite. 1t is more necessary for her to keep
her figure than to know her lines, for there
Is no place today on the stage for stout
women, and the air of America is positive
ly encouraging to the growth of flesh as
women grow older.
Some Fair Professionals.
Such stage favorites as Maud Adams,
Annie Russell and Margaret Angelin were
born slender, with the slenderness that the
American play-goer loves, but after five
years on the stage every one of these wo-
men has had to begin the practice Of Sc
we're diet, and diet for an actress means a
menu OF untnvftfng food prescribed by a
doctor, for the player must be well and fire.
quently nourished, and the story of Fanny
Davenport, who tried to starve out her
flesh and lost her health as the result, has
made all the others Scrupulously careful.
There is one doctor in London and an
other in New York whose clientele is
largely made up Of fair professionals whose
hgures must at all costs be kept inside of
certain limit Of pounds, and so serious is
this matter of figure that such women as
Mrs. Pat. Campbell and Maud Adams keep
their own cooks, who travel with them and
prepare with gluten, saccharine ETC., all
the food they eat, which, while it Is costly
and delicate food, is hardly tempting to
the woman Of epicurean tastes Rare beef
plain boiled spinach, dry toast and little
stewed fruit is the sort of meal that Julia
MarloWe will eat with gusto an hour be-
fore the play. Not drop of wine water
or. milk washes this down, but in an hour
and half she takes a couple Of goblets of
clear, cold water and considers herself as
having feasted. After the play, at a sup
per given in her honor, she will daintily
pick a chickens wing, eat her salad leaves
with salt and round out the festivity with
an olive, for well she knows the penalty of
indulgence in an old-fashioned square meal
and her eyes saw how the svelt and SER
two seasons in America a plumpness that
was the reason Of her whole loss of pres
tige on the New York stage.
A Pound in Time.
"Of course" groaned a pretty and popu-
lar actress. who discussed the situation
with regret and animation, 'the very young
girls don't have to follow so severe a regi-
men. and Georgia Drew Barrymore Is not
yet obliged to keep scales in her bath rooms
and punch bag in her back hall, but
eventually she must come to it; and what
all our doctors advise is to take the pound
IN time that saves nine. That is where we
nave learned wisdom over our sister pro-
fessionals. who never took to training
down till the tide of flesh had risen very
high and could only be subdued by mighty
self-abnegation and invariable injury to
ones looks.
What always amuses me-" went on this
leader in her profession, "is the pleasant
tradition. cherished among playgoers, that
when an actress arrives, and her salary
gets almost too big for her bankers to man
age. that her years of luxury begin. The
meaning of true luxury, which is soft ly-
Ing. easy hours, plenty of sweet leisure, a
chance to exercise your hospitable soul,
and generally be ones own mistress. never
arrives until the actress leaves the stage
and takes to private life AS long as she
is before the footlights, as she prizes her
salary and popularity. she must maintain
LtI lOOhS anu IeT yOulHl uiueSS, anu SIle
can't call in cosmetic, wigs, etc, to help
her out"
Sham Beauty is Bad Style.
"Sham beauty is no more tolerated on the
twentieth century stage than sham satins
or green baize oceans. The actress looks
must be as real as the contouriere whose
name is stamped in gilt on the waist belt
of her Paris frock. Take front seat at the
for rf,,l
glass and stare at Annie Russell, or Mary
Mannering, or Olga Nethersole, and see
how much sham there Is in their appear
ance and how very little cosmetic Is used.
Meet any of these women on the street in
broad daylight and you can see how fine
is the grain of their skins, how dazzling
their teeth, how rich and shining their hair,
how delicate and graceful their figures,
white and faultleSSly manicured their
hands. and how, even from the bows on
their walking slippers to the monograms on
their cobwebby handkerchiefs, their cos
tunes echo the very last word In fashion
but, phewi how much all this has cost.
'"Those reed-like figures speak of diet in
season and out: those fiat shoulders and
straight spines mean sleeping on hard beds
with never a downy pillow to invite easy
dreams. Those round waists and slender
hips are the result Of faithful horseback
or fencing exercise, whether you like eXer-
else or not. and those satin skins mean
baths and massage and steam treatments.
anu tHdl lH6 HdlT IuuSI Uo eAduIlLcu anu
washed scientifically twice a week.
why. the least bohemian creature in the
world is the woman who is qualifying for
starship or who heads a big stock COM
pany. Cigarettes and late suppers have no
place in her life, because it requires eight
hours sleep to keep her skin clear and her
eyes bright, and because she has got to
keep a weather eye out for wrinkles, dou-
BILE chins and gray hairs. She must, fur
thermore. bend her intellect to thoughts Of
corSets the new coiffure, underSleeveS and
the numbers of cores required in the new
skirts.
"Rosina Vokes was the last of our profess
sion who dared make her own clothes. and
she was never taken seriously. It's heart
breaking to put out two-thirds of ones
salary on frocks and to feel that one-half
your authority and popularity lies in ones
nineteen-inch waist measure or the nat
ural luxuriance of ones golden brown
curls. but today it is youth, beauty and
good clothes that outweigh any amount Of
positive genius in cotton-backed satin.
cheap corsets, grease paint and dyed hair"
Heredity.