The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-27

note that this man. who Is now one of
the greatest European managers, and was
then capable actor; was d,schaTgedi from ON
manageress. for incompetency. Since then
Mrs. Charles Wood has held positions un-
der Sir Charles. the one whom she brand
Il was informed by Mr.. DAILY of his
project Of opening theatsr In 1851 l
was then playing John McCulloughs for
member Of Forests company was the
acme toward which every actor in the
United States was striving. and / might
been that Forrest played overnight stands.
He argued that there were many who
could not come to the. large cities to see
homett viii go to the mountain. This was
a much greater hardship than It Is now
and considered the chance Of staying in
New York the whole season under Mr..
Days management had its advantages.
A FAMOUS COMPANY.
1.-THE first performance In the old Fifth
Avenue Theater on Twenty-fourth street.
| which then became Days, was August 10,
1868, and there Daily began his leadership
among managers. The piece was entitled
THE Play" and was by William Robert
son. The company was made up of George
Holland. E L. Davenport, ]. B. Polk,
Daniel Harkins. James Lewis, William
| P: Davidge, Fannie Davenport. Agnes
Ethel Mrs. Gilbert and myself. OF all
of these Mrs. Gilbert and myself are the
only ones left.
THE reason for the venture Of Mr.. DAILY
| was that after the death of the elder
Wallack, father of Lester Wallack, the
son was not able to keep up the theater
as his father had done: He made the
that. his father had made famous and
putting on some English ones. which his
patrons did not relish. So Wallack's went
down. for Lester had never taken the ac-
W Pat 20
| alive and he had many things to learn. He
was genial, careless kind of man and
let his best actors leave his company
through the lack of parts adapted to them
There the genius of Mr.. DAILY came into
play He secured the members of the
they left. and not only secured the best
| actors in the classic comedies and trag-
edies. but drew to his theater the audi
way he secured Holland and others.
when Mr.. DAILY announced that he would
| put on the classic comedies that Wallack's
had used SO many years, howl went up
| to play them. treason to Wallack.
old Eeads and Young Hearts and in it
that always had been the exclusive prop
| erty of Lester Wallack. I was fortunate
enough to make success of 1t. and the
| notices received were so flattering that
they almost turned my head. for was
young then, you know. One of the things
| they said was that Wallack should attend
the performance and learn how to play
the part.
HE did even better than that from nv
standpoint. for he invited me to become a
member of his company to play his parts
advised against It ny VIII Mr. Daily. Who fores
told that Wallack only wanted chance to
| shelve me.
'In very short time more new plays
the parts himself. quickly realizing Mr..
Days prophecy.
wALLACK LONG A RIVAL.
II went with Mr.. Wallack because that
company was the hardest goal to attain In
| the dramatic race. Wallacks was always
close burrow, and therein came the rise
| Of Days. People want to see new faces
in the cast They want youth and natural
| ness, as they cannot stand forever the
sprightliness conferred by some patent
medicine upon the aged and decrepid.
for Mr.. DAILY knew an artist when he saw
one, whether he was old or young, and
the company had youth and verve as well
as age and experience.
THE actor of to-day is In most cases
quite different creature from the actor
of the old school. / was fortunate in hav-
ing the best trainers-those who had a
high ideal of the actors artIand they
keyed me up to 1t 50 thoroughly that /
have never lost It. Forrest, wallack, Dion
Boucicault and Augustin Daly-I have
lors dummy good-fellow class They gave
me full and complete appreciation of
what an actors life meant to them and
what 1t should mean to EVERYONE in it
world. worse even than that of the prize
fighter in training. One must sleep well.
think well and do well II he is to act
well.
Perhaps l am growing old. but ] now
find myself looking at myself and my
work from every possible standpoint.
myself from the plane of the audience.
and at the same time listening to my own
voice as If 1t were phonograph. ! am
treasuring all my strength and am care
fui of ali that I do. so that my art may
stay with me to the end.
Now. a youth never does that He Is
as one Of the gods In his indiference to
full for, that, even when was starting
out, never was given to such e.capades
as the young actor of to-day feels called
name In the papers, which he seems to
think the end and aim of his art. In one
other thing 1 rejoice. that never have
"The q general type Of actor to-day was
the exception in the days Of Forrest and
WaIlack. The younger ones nowadays
to take more sa ae " an aesf ay
| are caught by the glitter Of the evanes-
cent light of social popularity, and they
would rather be called good fellows than
good actors They find out too late that
there Is nothing in 1t, and most of them
fill pauper graves or die in poverty. at
least
MONTAGUE DIED IN WANT.
Poor Harry Montague was one OF the
best fellows. He was better than good
fellow, but he died In want as did Les
ter wallack. who was indebted to the
Moss estate for his burial.
1.-THE actor Of to-day leaves the theater
to 90 to some cafe with his friends, who
wait for him at the stage door, and they
chatter to him of his excellent. clothes.
call him Billy or Jack and their talk
Is of the vest he has on, rather than the
part he has Just played.
AS one of the pioneers OF the American
invasion OF England Mr.. Daily nowhere
showed the indomitable Will and persever-
ance that raised him above all other man
ayers Us he did when his London thea
ter was first opened. The English critics
had made much of him and his company
when they appeared at the metropolitan
playhouses, but 1t was too much for them
when Mr. Daily built his own theater in
They knitted him at every turn. in the
dark and in the light, and We played TO
miserable houses for six months though
our stay abroad was to have been scarce-
" that many weeks. Play after play was
put on without success until we tried
Twelfth Night The production was so
superb that the audience simply had to
come and the critics acknowledged their
defeat Twelfth Night was the bill for