Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-04-07

Special Correspondence.
r ONDoN. March 2i.-E'Ien yerry's
first stage appearance was Il
- complete and utter failure, That
statement may come as mild
surprise 10 Americans In View OF
recently published commentaries on
the great actress successful debut IN
1850. as the chihl Mamlllus ~ THE
Winters Tale" but It IS true, never
theless. In fact. though the public
generally didn't know 1t. and though
K might have been supposed that Miss
Terry would have preferred to keep 1t
dark, Il Is she herself who has re-
vealed the truth and now all the world
may know that the beginning OF her
artistic career was by no means as
brilliant and promising as has been
generally believed
Yes, on her first appearances In n
playhouse Miss Terry quite failed 10
convince anybody that she would make
an actress. but let 1t be speedily added
that she was between four and five
at the time. at which age failure"
Is of no great consequence. Hiss
Terry's confession In fact, Is chiefly
interesting just now when 30 much 10
being written about her debut with
Charles Kean fifty years ago, and
about her brilliant career since then,
as showing that the actress appear
ance In "rhe Winters Tale" was not
really her first attempt at the histri-
onic art. although II was her frst APP
pearance IN public.
Here, however. Is the narrowing sto-
ry OF her ipitial failure" in Ellen
Tcrry's own'words as related to an IN
| teryieyer yesterday.
g; think It must have happened
somewhere In Scotland, because the
stage manager was Scotch. My father
ana mother were both on the stage,
and had married when both were un~
der nineteen years of age. Then came
a baby-that was Kate-and when she
was three and q half, to help things out
lit was settled that she should act.
| BY the time she was six she had played
| In Richard III" danced Spanish
| dance IN one play, n sailors hornpipe
| in another--in fact, like the Bateman
| children, she had done everything. We
| still keep q little pair of white ducks
marked Kate Terry and "A sailors
| jacket, and a little sailors hat.
| Then came my turn. When I was
about four or five II was decided that
| | should take n part In n pantomime
! called The Spirit of the Mustard Pot.
| had long, yellow hair, which was
| certainly most appropriate, and l was
to wear a yellow dress, But at re-
hearsal ! was afraid. ! shrieked and
| misbehaved generally.
"'Pit your child doun into mustard
pot Cny yellow hair was to repre-
sent the mustard overlooking the poD,
bawled the irate Scotchman.
Damn the mustard-pot" ! think
that was the inelegant expression my
father used in reply. Az soon as we
were alone he said TO me- You little
IDIOT youll never be an actress!
Fancy saying that TO a child of my
years But then, you see, Kate was
already considered a great actress, and
so she was. then retired for some
years, my first appearance having been
at rehearsal only"
AS everyone knows, despite her ia
theirs prophesy the little mustard pot
girl did turn into a tolerable actress
judging too from the kilograms from
the United States anent the coming
celebration of Miss Terry's Jubilee" on
the stage the suggestion has awakened
almost as much enthusiasm there as
here and the Transatlantic contribu-
tions to the London Trbune's Shilling
fund" are likely to be heavy Mean
while II Is only necessary to say that
practically every one Of Importance In
this country has fastened to associate
him or herself with the movement to
honor the veteran actress, and that the
testimonial which II Is proposed to pre-
sent To Miss Terry is certain TO be wor-
thy Of her acceptance and Of the occa-
sion generally. The night Of April
2sth-her jubilee nights also likely tc
be a great one at the Court theater
when Miss Terry appears In Captain