The San Francisco call., 1908-09-06

ndenCe IN him. so they gave MIN
testimonial at Trying hall, the original
program of which is herewith pre-
sented. The proceeds of that affair
took Dave, green, untried, talented and
ambitious. to New York, and the rest
| is history
/ said warfeld had one failure here.
should have said two. The second
one was joke, and so good that it
sounds like press agent story. How
ever, ii happens to be true, in spite of
that fact. Sam Loverich is authority
for the tale, and the narrative is fully
verified.
Here it is, as Loverich tells it:
During a summer vacation which
Warfield spent in this city about four
years ago he used to visit the Novelty
theater, then on Powell and Ellis
streets. Remember it? Warfield liked
to listen to the vaudeville stunts at
the continuance performance house,
and. besides. as Loverich's wife is
David Belasco's sister, there was nat
urally intimate mountaineering
between the star and the relation of
the boss. Anyway. Warfield used to
spend much of his time at the Nov
city.
On every Tuesday morning the the
ater management listened to amateur
aspirants for stage honors. and Tony
Lubelski used to come from the Nov
city across the bay to pick up attrac-
tons for his show.
Loverich had an idea. He commune
lcated it to Musical Director Sharp and
4 to such of the house attaches as was
necessary and lay in wait for his part
ner.
Look here" said Loverich to Lubel
ski one Tuesday morning. II have
been talking to a fellow from the east
His name is Williams. and he comes to
me well recommended He wants a
job"
innocently-
he sings and tells stories and will
be just the man we need to work in
one If he's good"
Lets hear him." said Lubelski.
So Williams" went on the stage and
sang.
Lubelski put his hands to his ears
and then fed. It was too fearful. He
wasn't within mile of the pitch and
his voice was outrageous
That's enough." shouted Lubelski.
ct quit"
williams pulled an offended look, and
Loverich begged his partner not to in
suit the man. who had come with let
ters from mutual friends
Can you do anything else?" asked
; Lubelski. feebly-
Il can tell some funny stories"
For heavens sake. then, tell one
"A fellow went into a barber shop
one day." said Williams with. the bland
ness of a schoolboy on exhibition day.
) and asked the boss how much it cost
to get a hair cut
Twenty-Five cents replied the bar
: ber
.''Then give me Is cents worth said
the customer"
Funny as a crutch.ys said LubeIski,
while Loverich fell off his chair.
Lubelski thought his partner was
laughing at the hoary joke, and said:
IF you think it's so funny, why book
him yourself ] wouldn't let him take
tickets at my showhouse."
If the joke. had been kept up any
longer Loverich. would have had A
stroke of apoplexy. so he introduced
Lubelski to Mr.. Dave Warfield. who
had been playing Williams" and Lu-
belsli. so Loverich says. bought"
on the proceeds of the benefit ten
, dered him. and eked out with what
other slender funds he commanded.
Warfield went east. He found New
York unkind at first. The great city
, lad who has gone there after fame.
, He worked where he could---usually in
, cheap music halls-until he finally got
! a hearing from George Lederer. who
: was then producing the hig Casino
E reviews Lederer saw him in one of
t the smaller amusement houses and
T noticed his talent That@waS War
fields beginning. Lederer gave him a
2 fsnali part. that OF a Hebrew character.
: Now Warfeld had his own notions
/, about the makeup of the role and was
. unfortunate in the fact that his ideas
E and Lederer's differed. Warfield want
ed to dress the part as the burlesque
Hebrew characters are now presented
with small derby hat pulled about the
ears, closely cropped beard and a
Z superciiious and self -deprecating grin.
J 1t was then a new idea-Warfield's
own-and Lederer didn't think it would
! 60
About that time a benefit baseball
|. game was being pulled on and theatrf-
. caf people were interesting themselves
in the event. WarfeId dressed him.
. self according 20 his ideas of what a
: Hebrew character in burlesque should
be and was a prominent figure on the
q field. He created a laughing sensation
Isederer consented to the makeup and
: the modern burlesque Jew was born
! Warheid's friends have always been
I advising him, and rarely with wisdom
4 as events have turned out.
They advised him against leaving
I Lederer when Weber and Fields came
i after him, but, warfield paid no heed
r and made good even In such company
as that supplied by Pete DALEY, LII