The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-03-18
THE MATINEE GIRL CHATS WITH
ELFIE FAY AND ROBERT HILLIARD

/ went round to call on Ellie Fay, the
whom | had not seen since she was here
couple OF years ago In Nam selle
'Awkins." the other afternoon. and be-
sides a delightful chat, l had several
hearty laughs and was given the pleasure,
rarely granted. OF seeing many OF her
magnificent jewels. Perhaps no other
actress I'm the profession. not excepting
the well-known dramatic stars, has more
jewels than Miss Fay, and the peculiar
fact about IL IL that she cares, so she
told me, absolutely nothing about them.
She wears nothing but pearls, diamonds
and pigeon blood rubies, and all OF the
clearest. rarest kind.
l shan't begin 10 even try TO estimate
the possible value OF her collection, for
many Of them have no duplicates and are
therefore priceless. On the stage Miss
Fay veal one superb maruuise ring Of
diamonds, and, on occasions, one other
ring, but she rarely wears the magnifi-
cent rope OF pearls with the pigeon blood
ruby, or the tiara OF diamonds and
pearls. Nor does she often wear her dia-
mond dagger, or her immense diamond
heart and crescent. In her stage appear
ance Miss Fay is, as OF the stage. sim
plicity itself
What's the use?'' she inquired, when
asked why she I'D not wear more OF
the jewels. "The people don't care how
I'm dressed They don't look at me, but
~ my faces What a monkey 7 do
look sometimes, don't II" To evade ac-
quiescing to her true but uncomplemen-
tary remark / asked. How did you come
20 make such n prominent feature II
your facesT You seem To have studied
the art thoroughly"
We'll. you see. Just before ] went
into Nam selle Awkins' l used TO sing
coon songs and | played Josephine Hall 5
| role In The Girl From Paris, and be-
/ tween the coon shouting and Sister
/ Mary James Top Note guess I played
! havoc with my voice. Then I was taken
/ lll. and my vocal cords became paralyzed.
and all the electrical treatments that 1
underwent didn't quite bring IL back.
mad, however, enough TO enable me 90
play in Man'selle 'Awkins. bolstered up
/ with a little self-confidence, which is an
| actress chief requisite but | realized
| that IL was up ~ memo, please don't
write that in cold black and white. We
actresses are supposed never 10 use
slang and in reality It's from behind the
footlights that slang originates. As
/ was saying. II was forced upon me that
must not depend upon my voice 20 carry
me through. but must cultivate some
/ thing else.
Su lhfu W llf III Otl bil
/ kinds OF monkey faces with n little ha nd
mirror. until my first impulse. on avak-
/ cning In the morning. was 10 feel of my
face and nose 90 find out " Il really was
| face"
She paused TO laugh heartily at the re-
nlnlscence. and I urged. Then youi
power IL a cultivated one. is it2''
oh. dear, no. 10 always came natura
10 me. even when ! was child. Cues:
Z ran In our family for my father. Hugh
Fay Cof the team OF Barry and Fay) who
)y the way. was born and lived in thh
'lty. was noted for his facial expression.
Your monkey faces. as you call them
--AAFa- the impulse Of the moment and no
ts n they were prepared before you wen
m the stage" / suggested.
You're right I never know just wha
m going To do and ! do anything tina
'nters my head. one night, OH dear
shail I ever forget that night7 Ii wa
al the Casino In London. where I wa
being featured as The Reil. % Avenu
II. & In The Whirl ~ the Town. I wa
iolng nv speciality and incidentally. thor
8ughiy enjoying myeef. az I always 40
when IL suddenly occurred to mo 20 teas