The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-09
"a OF MAURIcE BARRYMORE
bright THINGS Raid ny Him Whsn ~ the
Helght Of His Career,

While At the apogee OF his ability and
fame as a leading man, the late Maurice
Barrymore was the chief support In q
highly romantic play Of en- actress noted
In the profession for Der explosive out
bursts Of violent language upon small
occasion. In The progress Of The play Il
was part Of Barrymore'B business TO begtoW
a protraotsd Oscillation upon the lips Of the
actress.
On the opening night Barrymore, inspired
BY a senSs Of mischief, far oVerstspped
the limit in his bosb,wal Of this kisS. He
not only deprived Il Of the remoteet D9m-
blhnoe Of The conventional stage kt1a, but
Kept his lips Glued 70 the aotrosS'l for an
unconscionabiy long time. until The hTst
night audience rooked WIZ hugnueI, We We
actress'a eyes blazing with anger While
be held her In his relsntless grasp,
The critics touched up The Incident
Gbun dainty, generally With humorous COM
ment.
met the actor on BToSdWey en- .S od ioi0Tn
night for q dsuoSd long time. What was
Il was seeking reputation at the lannon's
mouth, replied Barrymore, amiably. In;
stead, lost il. You should have heard
her when the curtain fell.
When Barrymore and thS late Steele
Maokaye, actor, playwright, mana ger, got
together, there was invariably q clash OF
rapier-liks Wit that resgated The other
men at the tables to voluntary silence.
One night at a dinner ct the lambs Cub
the versatile Maokaye, who was an excelhnt
actor and q splendid reader, rem dered the
main soene from a part which be bad him
self written and played With immense
success. m
Barrymore seemed TO be the most enthus;
las tito man around the table. BE olanked
his knife against his plate and shouted;
sBravol A hundred times, bravol Mao
kaye, you ought 70 be an actorl'
A dozen or moro years ago, whSn Nine,
Sssuh BeTnhardt was returning 10 France
by way Of New York from her Australian
tour. she was present at gay little Sunday
night dinner party Of we'll known theatrical
folk In a private dining room Of a New
York hotel.
Along before the wind-up Of the evening
the divine Sarah, who was more subject
TO such caprices then than she has been
In later years, began TO direct the some
what outing shafts Of her Gallo wit at
Barrymore, who received the barbs with
the greatest good nature. He made II a
point not 10 tilt with women unless abso-
lutely driven 70 1t, and, moreover, he used
20 declare that he had never been able In the
least degree TO understand women.
SO Barrymore allowed himself 10 be the
butt Of the French woman, and made no
effort 70 get back until she sent him some
sort Of dart bearing upon her belief In hiA
accommodation OF his personal pulchTi-
tude, thing Of which Barrymore was
certainly never guilty.
This brought the hush 10 BarrymoTe's
cheek. shut he waited his moment Finally
he overheard her saying 70 the actress seated
you know, my son is OF the same name
as your distinguished and 30 very beauu-
full Monsieur Bsrrymore-my son Maurice;
Yes put In Barrymore solemnly, ad-
dressing the actress to whom the French
woman had made the remark, we are Of
an age, and we're playmates at Harrow
when he was getting his boy schooling In
England. He Is vel, madam, ! venture
10 hopei' turning with smile TO the French
Everybody at the table knew that Barry
more Wns we'll past as then quite as we'll
az they were aware Of Nine, Bornhardts
extreme sensitveness az TO her age. As
matter OF truth. Barrymore was z good
twenty years older than young Maurice
Bernharet at that time.
Nine. BernhArdt was excessively aIniable
toward Barrymore not only for the re-
mainder OF The evening, but always when
she met him afterward.
Barrymore had dislike for puns, which
was altogether unusual for an Englishnan.
A well known leading ActOr-now In
vaudeville who was always more or leas
on his muscle when in drink, dropped into
the Morton House cafe while Barrymore
Al He
saw Barrymore than he began 10 rail at
him for wholly imaginary injuries, and TO
threaten to mAcerate Barrymore TO I'M
recognizable pulp.
Barrymore, noting his fellow actors
condition, took II all in good part. Al
length his taunter, who really was an &C.
coruplished man with his fists, a. he had
shown on several occasions when Infatuated,
strolled over TO Barrymore and remarked
that he had q great mind to knock his,
Barrymore's, head oh, then and there.
SRobby,' blandly remarked Barrymore,
behave You appear to DO burying lot
That's all right, replied the pugnaoious
actor his face curving into foolish grin,
en- Barrymore,
barrymore gazed at the man With an
expression Of the most hopeless disgust
for full half minute, and than he said:
conformation for such an unspeakable
lnguA proclamation
Whereupon he suddenly darted In, caught
the other man around the waist, lifted him
into the air az II he had been paper bag Of
-four, tossed him face down on q table and
spanked him in the old fashioned way, but
with modern enthusiasm, for five minutes
the prone actor making frantic but In
effaotual efforts 10 regain his feet
When the conquered and chagTtned
actor was at length permitted to get up
he gazed weakly at Barrymore for 4 bit
and then said:
Maurice Barrymore, / wouldn't have
your disposition for the world
Which was the origin, dating back nearly
two decades Of a phrase which has recently
been revived and converted into one Of
slangful meaning.
Barrymore's carelesmess a. 10 his ap-
parel was 80 pronounced that II was a
genuine grief to his family and friends
His contempt for the matinee idol-vhich
be never admitted himself to have been
for az much as a minuts-was 50 acute
that he took actual pleasure on the stage
In showing by the oarelessness Of his at
tire that he had no mind to be oatSlogued
with that lot.
He was walking along Broadway one
afternoon with q couple Of companions,
when, from the opposite direction, APP
preached an actor Of note In classical
vhlea WIN Vfas OOngplCFota at all Gmea