The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-02
BARNEY BERNARD'S RISE.
From Terrace Garden REGULATIONS TO
Abe Potash.

When he was small boy Barney Ber-
nard gave limitations of John r Ray
mond and the Kernel brothers Not 90
many years later. for Mr.. Bernard is
in she early thlrties. he won distinction
for his creation of the role of Abe Pot
ash. Between these two periods IN his
artistic career he ran the gamut OF
stage experience. Like his associate in
Potash and Perlmutter." Alexander Carr.
Bernard did not get recognition with
out years Of hard work and observation.
lie had tried 10 be salesman as youth.
hut took to acting for a living and came
to New York to seek his fortune
He was II then and the first thing he
did was to write Hebrew monologue
with which he made n hit at Terrace
Garden and a; club enterta ailments The
next step was buresque with Fred
Riders Moulin Rouge" company at
Miners Bowery Theatre lie was told
that II he made good" he would get s25
week; II not. he'd get "23" mot dol
larsD. He made good and soon at
tanned the position Of principal comedian
IN Fred Twins company. twenty
six weeks engagement in the Fiddle
de-Dee" company during the Pan-Amerl-
Jose an offer to Join an organization In
I'm Francisco.
The engagement was 10 he for twenty
weeks. but Bernard made such a hit on
10 coast that he remained for five
ears. playing all the characters made
amous by David warfed and Sam Ber-
1ard in the East and burlesquing Marie
DRESSER. II was during his stay on the
Of ri Ia H.,
Speare. II was a special performance
of THE Merchant of Venice" and he had
the role of ShDlock. The only thing he
will admit abou; that performance Is
that n critic spoke Of him az the young
est ShDioct in captivity, as he was but
% years OF age then.
Bernard returned east seven years
ago, appearing in Across the Pond"
with ADOLF Phillips. HIS activities after
that included three years with Klaw &
Erlanger and zIegfeld in the support OF
Adeline Genee in The Soul Kiss" and
The Silver star" on the New York
Roof with the "Fol.es Of 1909; with
Marie Dressler in THE Boy and the
Girl, then a starring tour in Sam Rer-
nard's role in The Rolncking Girl; as
the German nurse In THE Sleeping
I
with Eddie Foy In Up and Down Broad
way" and finally two years at the Win
ter Garden with Gertrude Hoffman
In all this experience Mr.. Bernard
never had "A role that even suggested
that OF Abe Potash. and his debut AT the
Cohan Theatre in the Montague Glass
play year ago amazed even his most
sangune friends
eft .,
says Mr. Bernard, 40 he permitted to
create the role of Abe Potash, especially
! in view of the fears Of many Hebrews
, that Abe and Norris on the stage would
/ he caricaturcs Of the race. As mat
ter Of fact, Potash and Perlmutter are
two faithful pictures Of type of He
brew business man in this and other
cities, type of which there are thou
sands ana thousands of examples
! THEY are really very little under
stood, these Abcs and udWrusses. chiefly
because the grinding conditions Of pov.
erty that mark the beginning of their
| careers force them TO be business men
n every sense OF the word from first
| to last, That makes the average man
class them as callous and avar'-. us
and that is Just the reverse OF the tn
! They are ms human and as fun OF IVA
bIe qualities as the next man. no mat
! Ter what his race. II one takes the trou-
BILE To understand them. MQtcruss and
Abc show on the stage the two greatest
| Hebrew qualities, love of family and
/ loyalty 10 friends. Their follies and
their mistakes We show too. but they
are natural and human and not peculiar
| to the Hebrews any more than they are
peculiar TO the English or the Chinese"