Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1908-06-05
HAPPY PETE DALEY,
JoIIiest Of Comedians as His
Friends Saw Him.
CHOICE EXAMPLES OF HIS WIT
Lew Fields and Charles Ross Tell Of
His unfaiIino Humor on and or the
stags-Evsn Success Made No Enc
mics For Him.

mics For Him.
Since the sudden death the other day
In Chicago of Peter +. DALEY, for
many years one OF the best known
omedans on the American stage. all
his old friends-and they include half
the well known theatrical figures in
Broadway. New York-have been la-
menting the sad end Of the jolliest of
comedians and recalling stories OF his
WIT. Pete Daley was that paragon of
successful actors, q man practically
without an enemy and with hosts of
friends.
Dailey's sense Of humor was gro
| tesque. On the stage he liked best to
pretend TO make a great effort to
| accomplish something infnitesimally
small. His parts were largely what he
made them. and he remade them more
or less for almost every perforr' rnce.
says the New York Times. Thoa> who
went often to see the burlesQue of
''The Merry Widow" at Weber's, In
New York, this season will recollect
that Pete Daley was forever telling
the story of his life with fresh varia-
tions. 1t was In this connection that
Lew Fields said of him recently:
.'He was one Of the few actors who
needed neither an author nor stage
manager" Mr.. Fields was exaggerat.
ing, but the exaggeration showed the
point.
One Of the very best stories told Of
Daley deals with an incident one night
when he was playing "A Straight Tip"
with May Irwin. In the performance
conspicuous piece Of jewelrX which
Miss Irwin wore fell to the door of the
stage, quite by accident. Mr.. Daley
seized big coal shovel and without q
word scooped up the trinket and put It
in the iceboy. Then, while the au-
dience was still convulsed with laugh
ter, he proceeded as IL nothing had
happened.
One Of Dailey's most noted failings.
especially In the Weber-Fields days.
was the regularity with which he
managed to be at least an hour late to
rehearsals. Though he was not the
''human night key Of New York" to
the extent that some people imagine.
he certainly had fondness for late,
or. rather, very early, hours.
Lew Fields told how Daley came to
publicly announce that he would never
be prompt at rehearsal. On one occa-
sion there was a rehearsal at 10
o'clock in the morning, and, as usual,
there was no Daley in sight. The
stage manager thought that he had
let this state of affairs go on long
enough and dismissed the entire COM
pany, saying there would be u rehears-
al In the afternoon II any one could
find Daley. Daley was not found un.
til too late for any rehearsing that
day. and the other members of the
company, who finally met him, ex
planned that the rehearsal had been
postponed until 10 o'clock the next
morning. DALEY stayed up all night
because he knew he could never 60 to
bed and get up at such an hour. At
$50 o'clock in the morning he went to
the theater and propped himself up on
the stage in a couple of chairs.
As matter Of fact, the rehearsal
had been set for I o'clock on the
ground that Daley would not get
there at 10. So he waited from half
past o'clock until /, and it was then
that, pretending wrath, he turned on
the stage manager and announced
that he would never again come to re-.
hearsal on time.
On another occasion. according to
Charles Ross, another Of Dailey's old
est friends and a member Of the
Weber-Fields company, Daley ap-
peared at o'clock when the rehearsal
had been set for II o'clock. He went
to the call board and calmly rubbed
out the second figure /. Then he
called the stage manager to show that
he had come on time. Mr.. Ross also
tells Of how, In similar way. DALEY
once failed to keep an appointment at
the photographers when all the COM
pany was to be taken" That time
he excused himself on the ground that
1t was April 1.
Lew Fields tells another story Of
how Daley, in his own jovial way,
made life miserable for Charles Bige-
low on his FIRST entrance to the CON-
pany. Mr.. Daley came to the first re-
hearsal Of the season late, as usual, and
found Mr.. Bigelow, whose head Is
notably bald, bending over the piano
trying to learn new song. DALEY
looked at Bigelow and at his bald
head. Then he exclaimed. Here's
Charley-half nakedw He remembered
the remark, though he never repeated
1t at rehearsal and used it on Bigelow's
first entrance the opening night.
One day only few months ago at
Weber's Music hall Daley and Ross
and another member of the company
were discussing In their dressing room
what they would do in case they left
the stage One said he would 60 back
TO his trade as tailor. Ross said he
would 60 back to his old work on the
race tracks. Daley thought mo-
ment, patted his false mustache and
remarked that he would be a bank
president.
Charles Ross, perhaps the closest Of
all Dailey's friends, lying abed with
an injured knee at a private hospital,
wrote these few lines about his old
chum:
Only great. big. good natured chap.
Who insisted on keeping young.
Never showed sorrow, worry or care,
Turned trouble to Jest with the songs
he sung.
None could b dull In bio DrsssaNs.