The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-04-16
WHY Do ACTORS
WEAR LONG HAIR?
Affectation Is Only a Part
of a HistriOnic
Pose.
EVERY MAN SAYS
MANSFIELD is ACTING
All Are Apt to Say, "Be
Natural" but No Man
Is Natural.


ard Mansfield in New York and the play
er answered IT with the assertion that
that affectaton was only a part of a his
trionic poso which all mankind Is busily
engaged in maintaining. Then he drlfted
Into some general reflections on being
natural" which ran as follows:
There Is no philosopher, no man who
observes and thinks. who can deny the
fact that, from the king on his throne
To the bcggar on the street, every man Is
acting. The knowledge of the art OF act
Ing Is indispensable TO a knowledge or
mankind. and when you are able to pierce
The disguise in which every man arrays
himself OF read the character which ev-
cry man assumes, you achieve the inti-
mate knowledge OF your fellow men. and
you are able to cope with man either as
he Is or as he pretends TO be-
I'VE are apt to say, BE natural AS
a matter OF fact, Is man ever natural7
Take for instance, the brave soldier
Is he natural? No. The bravest man is
the man who knowing danger ia afraid
and yet faces the danger. Ho acts the
part, I'm short. OF a brave man. II he
were entirely natural, he would run away.
DiogeneS pretended TO be absolutely nat
ural, yet he elected TO dwell In a tub,
where everybody came to look at him,
1t would have been more natural to live
In an ordinary. comfortable house. But
DiogeneS In an ordinary house would not
have been Diogenes.
1t Is on the same principle that certain
authors and actors and painters wear
their hair long. or others elect TO attend
society functions in blue flannel shirts
To wear short hair or be dressed like
everyday human beings would not arrest
attention. The more you study mankind,
the more you discover that every man IS
playing a part. II you act well, you will
live well. and as far as l can discover
that seems to be the alpha and omega OF
most mems existence Study your part
and know how to play It. The man who
does not study the art OF acting is at
disadvantage, and thus the greatest phil
osophers and statesmen have devoted
themselves to an art concerning which an
eminent writer has inquired whether 1t
was worth while. So universal is the
habit OF acting that when a man ceases
to act we cease TO believe In him. and
the only creature who can be said to be
absolutely natural is maniac
I should not advise any boy to become
an actor. says Harrison Gray tiske.
stage career generally should not be be-
gun before a youth has attained his ma
1orlty, or until he has reached the age
wnen he would enter upon the practice OF
any serious art or profession. Precoclous
talent for the stage rarely results In ma
ture achievement. 1t is scarcely safe for
a boy TO select any career before he Is
old enough to realize Its demands and re-
sponsibilities, It's advantages and disad-
vnntages and decidedly no youth is quail
fled to adopt acting as u profession until
he has passed the period when impress
sionable natures are apt to be stage
struck" In many cases men have passed
80 before they have learned that In choos-
ing the stage tncy have committed an ir-
retrievable blunder. Rarely does any ac-
tor reach the fulhllment of his ambition,
or the complete development OF his pow
ers until he has passed into middle age,
The dramatic profession. under the con-
ditions that rule at present. Is a precari-
Gus means OF livelihood. except In the
cases of chosen few. With the major
ity engagements are difficult TO obtain
the supply OF actors Is treble the de-
al L., 4. of
ployment: and as rule employment
even among those fortunate enough to
obtain consecutive engagements. rarely
covers more than thirty-ilyc weeks out
OF the flfty-two in each year.
While a few actors with special gifts
accomplishments, or popularity, command
the majority OF the workers OF the stage
arc undcrpaid. Considered merely as a
means OF livelhood-eXccpt where young
men possess undoubted talent or the
spark of genus-the stage should be
avoided. The man of small capacity for
dramatic work can better bend his ener-
giles TO almost any other occupation with
greater expectation OF substantial re-
suits.
1t is only the young man who unmIstak-
ably reveals the possession of those quail
ties that make for success on the stage
who should for an instant seriously con-
slider II, And such man, to obtain even
tual recognition. must serve an arduous
apprenticeship, confront constant difficult
ties and disaDpointments. possess personal
and artistic Ideals OF a high order and be
prepared to maintain them despite every
them away And even then, IT Is more
likely than not that at the close OF his
career however brilliant It's achievements
may seem to have been In the eyes OF
the world he will ask himself the ques-
ton. Was 1t worth while?"
Although there are few theatcr-goers so
unsophisticated as to think that all the
lovely hair that actresses wear Is theirs
by right Of birth. instead OF by right of
purchase. not many theater-goers know
that the tresses that adorn the heads OF
some OF the best known actors came from
the shop.
Every body who has ever seen Charles A.
Bigelow, who supported Anna Held for so
long. and who now. after various expert
enccs with Weber & Fields and with Joe
Weber 8 Stock company, is going back
head Is as destitute OF hair as the tradl-
tional billiard ball. His badness is part
of his stock In trade as comedian
But few people who behold the elongated
De Wolf Hopper know that the brown
hair that he wears can be taken off and
put on without trouble. He has worn a
other leading actor of whom nature has
shorn the thatch she gave him In his
youth. Louis James is another. and there
are plenty more.
These actors don't miss their hair as
much one would think, The art of the
wigmaker has advanced so far that II is
DOsSlDle To DuS "lBS anu toupecS lNat lOOh
Just as well as real hair. even upon close
inspection. Across the footlights detection
is impossible.
Leading men who play lovers must have
their own hair. Often they play opposite
leading women who have a penchant for
graspng them by the wool. and then the
wig would invariably fall Hair the gray
ness of Kyrle Bellows IS q valuable asset
but halGness detracts from the romantic.
and that is why the actor sticks by his
hair ns long az he can, and then Dins his
faith 10 the wigmaker.-ChicaGo Tribune
Every one who knows Louis Mann
knows also that sclf-control is not one OF
the attributes of that estimable character
actor. Some five years ago Mr Mann
was getting ready to retire for the night
at his summer home when the cottage
burst into flames. The comedians first
thought of his library which con-
tained at that time many valuable books.
among them being variety OF rare old
tones Greatly excited. he rushed to that
room, only to find himself confronted bv
a problem like unto that which faced
Hans Christian Anderscn's Door widow
when she tried Ia decide which OF her
children she should give to the rich mer-
chant who wished TO adopt It, Mr.. Mann
knew that he could not carry out moro