Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-01
QaTnE THEKTER gSl[l


her dances and seen pictures of them,
though he has not Yet visited America 10
see them, says she has caught and even
/ stimulated his fancy through them. one
J of the most effective is the Dance of the
Hours, when in the Transformation scene
| twelve girls troop forth from the grand
| fathers clock and dance to suggest the
: silent. swiftly moving hours. Possibly
/ the most picturesque of all the move
mentS she has conceived is the dance of
! the stars which is said to exceed in pure
| imaginative creation anything that has
| been done in America.
! TRULY'S HOODOO CHARM.-One of
! the objects that always arrests attention
and excites curiosity in the dressing room
| OF Truly Shattuck is funny little Chi
nese doll that invariably has a prominent
/ place on the wall over the makeup
| table.
! That" said the actress once to an in
quisitive caller. lis my fetch. No, l am
| not superS-itiouS-no more so than most
! people, anyway-but don't YOU know l
! really don { think | could get through a
| performance without a mishap of some
sort if my Chinese doll wasn't hung UP.
When my mother and l first visited
! San Francisco We lived at Il boarding
! house much frequented at that time by
| the leading members of the profession.
As in many other California houses. the
! cook at this establishment was a Chinese,
/ superStitiOuS.
''One day he came up to our room bear
/ ing mysterious bundle, which he pre-
scented 10 me with much solemnity while
he Informed me- in his queer pigeon Eng
1 IiSh that If kept the contents by me il
/ would bring me luck.
| The contents proved to he the doll,
! which the old Chinese said he had
( brought with hill from China, where IT
had been blessed by Buddhist priest of
! an enormous sanctity. To please him I
carried ii to the theater on our opening
night, and much of my success on that
occasion, he assured me. was due to its
benevolent influence. OF course, that is
absurd but II il very curious that on two
occasions, once when l was playing in
the west and once when | appeared al
a benefit in New York. the doll was not
taken to my dressing room and | forgot
my lines completely. And So although |
am not superstitiouS as / said before I
always hang the doll UP in my dressing
room wherever / go"
WON SUCCESS WITH FAILURES
Catherine Countiss, who has come into
swift popularity emotional star in
! the dramatiZation OF +. Marion Craw-
/ fords touching novel. The White Sis
! ter. Is Texan. Her father at the
! time OF his death was the oldest Confed-
crate veteran and newspaper publisher in
! the Lone Star state. When Texas was
old, so Young he had to he strapped TO
! the saddle, he rode pony express as the
| bread winner of a widowed mother and
big family OF young children.
The indOmitable spirit inherited from
this sturdy. pioneer has sustained Miss
Countiss through the trying ordeal for
stage recognition that, as a rule. besets
a woman solely dependent upon her own
ability.
Miss Countiss and Frances Starr be-
| gan their stage career the same night
as extra girls in clyde Fitchs play. The
Moth and the Flame with the Murray
/ Hill stock company of New York Six
weeks later the young Texan was play
| ing the leads in one-night stands in The
Village Postmaster" and, later. in Arr
zona.' But New York openings were
unattainable. Managers had never heard
of her; they didn't know what she could
| do"
And so Miss Countiss went into stock
that severe but illuminating school from
which nearly all the best players in New
! Iork's successes of the last few seasons
have graduated. She became very pop
| ular on the Pacific coast and went
starring in THE Christian Later she
| became a stock favorite in Brooklyn
| Baltimore Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,
and achieved popularity with her own
company in Denver and Grand Rapids.
She has a repertoire of over 300 leading
parts Her magnetism appeals strongly
to women. Miss Countiss has supported
/ Lillian Russell, Harry Glazier. Otis Skin
ner, Robert Edeson and other prominent
players. She has scored in New York
productions of Mrs. Warren's Profess
sion, Barbara's Millions" The Of
tenders" and The Watcher''-every one
a failure, yet they enabled her TO win
personal success.
Stair x Havlin elevated this gifted
woman-the product of severe school
to stellar rank. She brilliantly stood
the test last season in The Awakening
of Helena Richie" They have now given
her a fine company and production in
play OF potent heart appeal to all won-
ankind The White Sister" She is
hailed as great acquisition to the linn
tied ranks OF woman stars who can eX-
act the tribute Of tears.