Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-28
Gossip About Plays, Players and PIayhoUses

been a drawing card OF any description.
Augustus Thomas fitted him with a couple
Of plays and his fortune was made
One OF the Englishmen who has gone
farthest In this country OF late has been
one who has succeeded In doing II without
saying word. This IL Fred Walton. the
pantomimist Chicago saw him FIRST IN
The Babes and the Baron" in which
Junie McCree and others disported them
selves at the Garrick. Walton after a
successful season IN vaudeville has been
put into The Show Man" to see what he
could do with IT,
Before he was given that assignment an
other EnEiishman had had a crack at t..
This was While EdOuin. II was twenty
hve years ago that he FIRST came over
here and made fun with his one cuff in a
piece called Fun in a Photograph CAL
lery." Since that time he has been in
nobody knows how many pieces. The
shuberts brought him over this last time
He does a trick Of running up a flight
OF stairs that n almost as -unctuous IN it's
rich comedy as used to be Francis VIII
sons fine old tumbles downstairs.
Cecilia LOTUS Is an English importation
who Of late years has spent more OF her
time and made most OF her money on this
side Of the water. She acknowledges that
what she Is pining for Is a real play and
she says that until that comes along she
will be content TO do the best she can,
either in the Joe Weber show or wherever
else her lot is cast
It's funny about the English leading
man. Here Is Ellen Terry. who brings to
this country a company that she selected
herself. Her leading man is James Carew
whose parents live In Chicago Olga Meth
ersole comes to this country, and her lead
ing man is Frank Mills, who used 10 live
in Detroit One of Lena Ashwelrs leading
men came from Lansing, Mich. The Eng
lish leading man does not suit all the Eng
fish leading actresses. Those who have
had the pleasure OF seeing Frederick Kerr
act win wonder how It is possible for any
actor in that line Of business to surpass
the English leading man who is at his
best.
Mrs. Carter has long been supported by
Charles A. Stevenson, who Is English. For
the matter OF that, Julia Marlowe herself
was born in England, and sothern's father
was English. and Kyrle Bellew is an Eng
lIshman. and Guy Standing and plenty Of
others. But they act so much I'm this
country and so little in England, and they
little abroad that they commonly and per-
haps correctly are known as American
actors rather than English.
When an English actor comes to this
country he is put up at the clubs. and
the American actors go out OF their way
to make things nice for him. That is. all
the American actors DO except Wilton
LaclCaye, who would rather twist the lion Is
tail than make curtain speech. and that
is saying a great deal But when the
American actor goes to London he has
to get along with a great deal less atten-
ton, as a rule, than ne has helped to give
the visitor to these shores from the white
cliffs of Albion.
The conviction that Is growing among
American actors that many of the BLUFFS
come from England as we'll as the cliffs
has not added any cement to the entente
eordiale. The managers who succeed with
American pieces in England are warm In
their praises of the blood is thicker than
water thing, while those American man.
ayers who get failures in London cannot
be convinced that the result is not the re-
suit of a British conspiracy in restraint OF
the comfy of nations and that the first
thing the average Briton does Is to find
whether a play is from America, so thai
he may damn 1t completely.