The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-23
TOLD OF STUART ROBSON.
A FEW "REMINISCENCES by ONE
OF HIS FELLOW ACTORS.

His GeniaIity and Kindness of Heart
which Could Not BE Disturbed-His
Rebulxe to a Careless Actor ana
His Joke Under Heverses--A Stock
Speech.
From the New York Sun.
Few men on the American stage
have been more universally Beloved by
their fellow actors than Stuart Rob-
son." said one of the late actors assoc
ciates a few days ago. at is not sur
prising to those who knew him well
that there were no public services in
this city last week after his death.
The burial was conducted very much,
perhaps, as he would have had 1t had
the details been of his own arrang-
in&.
IF there was anything to regret in
the simplicity of his funeral it was
that the public that knew him only
from it's side of the footlights had no
opportunity of learning how affection
ately he was regarded by those who
were associated with him on the other
There is no business or profession
where there is so much mutual
knocking as in the theatrical. Gen
erous as with his money is the actor
with his adverse criticism. "Trelawney
of the Wells gave a fine glimpse of
that. But of the several hundred ac-
tors and actresses whom l have heard
discuss Stuart Robson not one has
had anything to say about him that
was not to his credit.
1T is pretty generally conceded that
two of the results of acting are iras-
cibility and an inclination to display
temper. Some of the men who are re-
garded by the theater- going public as
most loVable characters are so cordial
ly hated by the people who are obliged
to work for them that the wonder of
1T is that the crimes of the day are
not monopolized by the forty-dollar
and fifty-dollar week actors who
have been Inundated by their stars.
only once did l see Stuart Robson
lose his temper. We were rehearsing
some changes in the play oliver Gold
smith,, in Memphis. A prominent ac-
tor associated With the company had
thoughtlessly and needlessly annoyed
him by Interruptions and unsteady
performance. Not a word would the
'Guv' nor as we called him, say, not
word would he let his manager say.
although the actor gave an example
of poor discipline to the rest of the
company.
But when we began rehearsing this
morning in Memphis, k started his
tomfoolery. The Guv'nor stood it for
a while, then, growing red in the face,
he slammed the prompt book on the
table and said: The rehearsal is off
I'm tired of this damned business. You
have gone far enough, X. 1 won't
stand your ungrateful tricks any
more and he walked off the stage
THAT was all. 1t doesn't sound very
strong, but his voice was breaking with
rage, and those who heard knew that it
was the accumulated anger of months.
Half an hour later k received a let
ter of apology. The Guv nor was sorry
he had lost his temper and he should
not have spoken as he did; he realized
1t and hoped X would forgive him.
And let me say that from that time on
this actor caused the Guv'nor no more
trouble, and none in New York to-day
mourns his loss more than he.
Under equally trying circumstances,
! saw him exhibit the utmost good ma
tufe. The Gadhy' produced at Wall
lacks Theater several years ago, was
disastrous failure. During the two
weeks it ran, the audiences kept grow
ing less and less until Robson got in
the habit of asking before the curtain
went UP If he was out there yet
1T was bad enough to have the crit
les roast the play, it was bad enough to
be losing thousands of dollars on the
production, but it seemed to me TO be
rubbing it in when a well-known actor
formerly associated with Robson came
to his dressing room one night ana aft
er watching him make up as the boy in
the first act, say:
Rob, you're a fool to play a part
like this. Why don't you try Hamlet?'
The Guv'nor pursed up his lips in
with slight laugh, BY Cad, will if
they get me mad
Oh, he can't help that, he said,
when this Jobs comforter had left the
dressing room. He's always doing
that. After HAD lost $4,000 on Bill
Nye's play, The Cadi,' he came around
one night and told me that on the night
OF its first production he sat beside one
oil the best-known critics in New York,
and before the curtain went up had
TOLD him that he was sure the play was
going to be failure Now that was
helpful, friendly suggestion to a
critic, wasn't it?"
The Saturday night when The Cad
ny had its last production, he was in
very jocular mood.
Think Of IT, said he, as he stood in
me wings preparatory to going on.
mink of III 1t has cost me $1,000 ev-
cry time ! played this part. (The loss
Tor the three weeks was $20,000.) Talk
Soout your public-spirited citizens
where do 1 come in? Where is my
monument? And look h0w Cdlm and
hul1erent those fourteen of the lost