Evening journal., 1911-05-30
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Remark That Caused
Booth to Play Hamlet
By "HOIIand."

One Of the famous American theatri-
cal managers Of yesterday was VIII
liam Stuart. who died in the early
eighties of the last century. Twenty
years before that he had been man
ager OF What was then unquestionably
the leading theatre of America-the
Winter Garden. In New York city.
There appeared almost all of the lead
ing actors and actresses Of the time,
among them Edwin Booth. whose pro-
ductions of Hamlet" and other Shake
spesrean plays upon the stage of the
Winter Garden, beginning in 1888,
were "famously successful"
Stuart, who was presumed to have
fed from Ireland on account of po-
litical troubles and whose real name
was understood TO have been Edmund
OFlaherty. came to be an intimate
friend of Edwin Booth, and from him,
one afternoon, in the evening of his
life. | heard the story, as Stuart had
heard Il from Booths own lips, of the
manner In which the first suggestion
that Booth play Hamlet came TO him.
Booth has always been a somewhat
difficult man to have personal inter-
course WITH said Mr.. Stuart, for
there is a tinge of temperamental mel
ancholy about him which sometimes
strongly influences him, making him
frequently dreamy. Yet numerous
times. when | was a manager, / wound
myself in delightful conversation with
him
Il remember that one afternoon
when he was half through his ex-
traordinarily successful engagement
at the Winter Garden, an engagement
in which he duplicated his wonderful
Philadelphia success as Hamlet, |
found him in a somewhat reminiscent
mood and asked him if he had always,
from the time he went upon the stage,
had ambition to play the part of Ham
let He bestowed upon me that singu-
larly fascinating and beautiful smile
which he reserved for those who had
his confidence. and then told me that
It was his father who first suggested
to him that he play Hamlet
II happened in this way Booth
said I was standing in the wings of
theatre in San Francisco where my
father was playing, and | with him, /
think about the year 1858. ! was dress
ed for the part / was to assume when
my father passed by. Just as he had
got by he turned, came back and look
ed at me steadily for more than a min
ute | wondered if / had made some
mistake in dressing for my part. |
knew that something was on his
mind by the way he looked at me.
At last he said to me You look
/ .I-s. fInaHt -
make up much for the part. Why don't
you study it and play it? II is more
than half the part Of Hamlet to look
it,"
Then my father went on, nor did
he ever again allude to the subject.
But he had dropped a seed in my mind.
] began to study the part of Hamlet
and the entire play. After a time
thought / understood it and was GER
tain that when the opportunity came
l could play Hamlet as well as look
the part
How well he played it, said Mr.
Stuart, you may judge from the fact
that / happen 20 know that Booth re-
ceived from his Philadelphia and New
York representations of the part a
| little over ninety thousand dollars,
/ ana all because MS ldtheT WhtH Iu-
win Booth was still a young man,
thought that the son looked so like
Hamlet that he would need to make
up very little for the part"
! Copyright, 1911, by r. j Edwards. All
rights reserved)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell OF
"The Famous Hamlet That Dickens
Helped 10 Create.'