The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-29
MISS NEILSON-TERRY'S STORY.

TtoIG of the Liberty Ihcatre, l. born
a.. .hc purple OF the English theatre.
.t.. ~ a daughter Of Fred Terry and
,,er, of the great Ellen. She Is also
"a. daughter Of Julia Nelson. So the
aries s.pod by when she was born.
Il know professionally that | have |
had myN. luck all along the line she /
.,.t. and ! realize that when first .
.,y the light as the daughter Of Julia
silicon and Fred Terry was born with
SILVER spoon in my mouth Could
sry budding actress hope for a more
rromI.lug beginning? hut please do
r,, tE.uk that | have not worked hard.
Uy parents, being sensible folk. were
,I.., 20 realize that while the public
,.-rt be- lcuient to me at the start
...y would not tolerate me long merely
,s tho daughter OF my father or mother.
WAS made to work my way through
,he mill like any other unknown begin
nor and during this uphill stage APP
crentccship my real identity was not
i..Io.,d was known az phil.ida Ter
..n. Il was not until | scored my first
III, as Priscilla IN Priscilla Runs
,vav.' hy the author of Elizabeth and
uor German Garden that | was al
,ovycd {, play as Phyllis Neilson-Terry,
which IS my real name.
"That is now four years ago and in
the interval which has passed | have
n.lvcd leading parts in all sorts and
conditions Of plays by dramatists as
Vde apart as Shakespeare and Pinero,
Louis y Parker and oscar Wilde. quite
my most wonderful chance came II
COURSE when | played Juhct FOR several
months at the Duke of York's Theatre.
The critics were then good enough To-
say extraordinarily kind things about
me. Incidentally too, | was besleged by
many unanswerable Conundrums.
The irony about JUlict is that so
f.w actresses can play her until they
got too Old for tho part one interviewer
to,d me. You must admit that Shake
spcarcs drawing of the character was
tribe FAR fetched. He drew her as
sill in her teens. Some students even
declare she was nor quite IA And
We are told passion cmanated from her
breast as from a shrine" Well, serl-
ouSly | ask you. Miss Neilson-Terry.
how could any girl have been capable
oi such tempestuous gusts of love-
making at so early an age
Alas | must confess | could not at
that lime enlighten him, although the
real explanation was obviously that
Jglirt was an Italian. and so matured
mich earlier Than do our English or
American girls But since he belonged
20 that curious race Of interviewers who
invariably talk more than the victims
hoy interview. this perseverinG young
man was not at all nonplussed He
went on to say:
"'And YOU yourself are another mys-
terry tthis was his polite way of call
Ing me a bit of freak | suppose }.
for arenr YOU still very young-a mere
child in years? Yet you manage to give
vent in the most lifelike way 20 that
vide range of emotions which Juliet
expresses. How. then, do you work the
miracle?
Again I could give him no satisfac-
tory reply. How | contrlved TO put 50
much into -he part | simply could not
eXplain. The fact tina, SO few actors
can Put into words Just how they get
their best effects seems to me indeed
10 he one Of the chief curiosities OF the
work on the stage. When just before
leaving England for example. ! played
Queen Elisabeth in Sir Herbert Trees
production of Drake at His Majesty $
Theatre / was known to my fellow
workers behind the scenes by the nick
name of 'Right-oh.
This happened because at rehearsal:
Sr Herbert Tree in his characteristic
csliy dramatic way used to show m'
how 70 dec'aim my different orations
srd much to his amusement ! fell int
rho unconscious habit OF replyin'
hr sky 'Right-oh' to his directions. Bu
sur, ! managed 10 speak my lines witt
'u-t tho note of queenly fervor NJ
wanted, who can complain?
And when YOU consider II carefully
.s.. intellect the only point which meet
trouble any competent player? To IN
f.I II too great "A sense of her own i'm
p.riture is in my belief one of the wors
c.air.,lcs that can ovcrtake a success
actress Perhaps the mos. crlilCa
p, ud In stage girls battles come
wm dltcly after she has scored he
t.-t Hg hit. No matter how meteor
has been her success, should she u
content FOR one minute to rest on ne
A. r'.~ then inevitably Just az pUlcK'
a- she went mp rookie. she Will com
down q stick
From close observation NJ the mar
lr1l.Ng players | have seen and kno"
nm Convinced that an actress 10 kee
h.r place lu the sun must go on WORK
ale 81 n