Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-30

k2z made his hit he
GEORGE SIDNEY told some curious
New Workers a lit
tie Of what he thinks made burIesoue a
eneat school for him and for others. Here
Is what he said:
gu can laugh if you want To but 7
M M-ooIlo OUT something while ] was plaving
around in burlesque companies that
proved TO me that the big cities are going
20 produce the greatest actors the world
erations. -"
..,.3A And IN tell you why" he continued.
It's because these cities aren't melring
pots and never were and never will he
Sney re open markets for the world.
Ihey ne the one common meeting ground
OF all races and all nationalities and
uney come there and keep up to concert
ptcn partly for commercial reasons and
partly for sentimental ones, and END by
producing the very best that all races are
capable Of
If you ask me whas all this has got
20 90 with burlesque, I'll tell you that
you can learn pretty nearly everything
IN little burlesque company staying to-
eelher year in and year out, made up OF
an sorts Of people, and being acted on
py pretty nearly all sorts of outside con-
aons' burlesque company is the
world in nutshell
You see I'm a Jew, and ] began by
playing a caricature OF a jew Busy Izzy.
was young and pretty frisky. and 1
STOOD IN danger OF overplaying Izzy-mak-
ing him noisy burlesque OF himself Two
Things held me back. The first was that
didn't want TO offend my own people;
/ was afraid they would stay away from
the theatre and I'd be a failure, And
the second reason is q little more credit
able to me, though it's just as true-I
had feeling that ] didn't want TO mis-
represent my people to all the others that
might De IN my audience 1t was a sort
of race pride.
Mind you, in those fiib6ertigibbe, young
days I didn't say all these things out
just felt EN-. But felt 'em so strong
ly that j kept lzzy within bounds. and.
better still / got into the habit of re-
straining myself
Wei, after my second year with my
own company, ] noticed that I was get
ting the best steady work in my company
from a young Irish boy that wore green
whiskers. He had 10 have the green
whiskers, he said, because they expected
them Of him. but he was just the quietest
little comedian you ever saw One day
we were both sitting out in the property
room. and ] asked him how he felt about
the whole business OF acting those carl
I don't think much of it, if YOU must
know; but / do all I can 70 make my
self as inoffensive as I can and still get
by
"It kind Of made me jump, What do
you mean by that@ / asked him,
mean that it's no picnic TO get out
there and make an Irishman what they
call funny. I'm an Irishman myself, and
i don't like # And there are a lot OF
other Irishmen out there in those audi
ences, and III bet a hat they don't like
IL either IL seems like a low-lived trick
30 just keep toning down and toning
down and trying not TO slander my coun-
try every time / open head
We'll. we sat there an hour, 7 reckon,
IN the property room, Ginning over our
troubles. We finally concluded that for
the sake of our own people wed rlIt ON
the soft pedal and just let come what
might That was when We We're both
Buu young enough TO think that we
were sacrificing our art Yes. sir. there
we SAT, solemnly renouncing the really
great careers we thought we might have
had, out Of loyalty and sentiment, and
all that, when what we Were acfuaIIy
doing was making the one resolve that
gave us any hope at all as actors. I've
heard people say that no art is great
except the kind that has great Iirnfta-
lions. That probably means a good deal
more than that Irishman and / meant
but We meant to accept those curbs our
selves. anyway.
We stuck to them, too through thick
and thin. We wouldn't make zanies ont
OF our own people We were not willing
to belittle ourselves, and we were moi
willing TO show ourselves up to each
other.
What was the result? That after 12
years l could come out OF burlesque and
80 into legitimate comedy without alter
ing Traction Of my comedy method.
may never be great actor, but at least
4 was good enough for that.
That principle works all through the