Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-25

mark that all parts are character parts
The interviewer had asked him IL he had
svsr done character work, and quoted
Bernard Shaw to the effect that "all one
needs Is to put on n whlte wig and dodder
around the stage" "Bless you. Yes" ejacu-
lated Youth" I've played character roles
ofton in stock. But all impersonations In
the theater are, or should have. character
IN them. Take the husband in Margaret
Mayo's Baby Mine, which / played 1 put
80 much eagerness and sincerity into the
part that Edwin Milton Royle told me once
had quite ruined his enjoyment of the
piece 4 like kids n lot was his objection,
and felt like the deuce TO see that fellow
take on as he did
Incidentally let me say that one OF tho
hardest ages to look before the footlights is
thlrty-two, which happen to be In real life.
What brought that to my mind was your
question as to how / came to be at tho Win
ter Garden one season. Mr.. Brady had put
me out in drama by Frederic Arnold
Hummer called The Brute. Its theme was
the extravaganza of wives. and the wal
lop came when the husband actually ex-
srted physical stress to impress his econ
omy lesson on her. He was supposed TO bo
thlrty-two, and for the life of me l couldn't
get grip on the part; 1t was quite out of
my line. So when II closed they shifted
mo to F'iftieth street and Broadway from
the West, where we'd been. Supporting
Gaby was something decidedly novel, and
while don't care TO think back often to
my musical comedy career there, IL was
not uninstructive. Ono can learn any
where.
How about your experiences with
."Prunella"? the interviewer and the stout
and beautiful press agent who had Just
come up, asked In chorus. Mr. Glendin-
ming then told how Winthrop Ames sent
for him and asked him IL he could do Pier
rot In that pretty little fantasy by Gran
Vile Barker and Laurence HoUsmnn.
Frankly, Mr.. Ames informed me, L don't
think you can.' The prellminarles before
got the part were some of them narrowing.
I oversight an engagement with the pro-
ducer, and finally when we went to the Lit
lie Theater the climax of grotesquerie, so
thought then, came. There were about
four of the footlights on; mothbalf stun
on tho chairs. My audience was Mr.. Ames
and the colored janitor. Despite all that,
when 1 got through the try-out, Mr.. Ames
ran up to mo and said, 'Glendlnnlng, / was
fool You sec he meant / had satisfied
him In spite Of himself"
The stout and beautiful press agent muir
INJURED something about an engagement for
dinner, and toyed fretfully with his Jewels.
but the interviewer, being In n mental
Oliver Twist mood. detained him and his
star, What else?" we demanded. well.
vaudeville, for instance" replied the un-
wearied Youth" II was with Grace La
Rue In the varieties, and--now hold your
breath--really and truly reclted The Shoot
ing of Dan McGrew.' That was before II
had become so hackneyed. got II over be-
fore the audiences knew l was about TO
speak piece That was probably why
they liked 1t. Landing in Chicago on that
venture, mapped out n dandy return
"trip to New York by water. That was en-
joyable. But at the other end OF that trip
was Mr. Amess letter in regard to Pier
rot.
My season with Mr.. Ames taught me
one fact--that acting is, has TO be. n busi-
ness. Prunella' did thirteen weeks in
the metropolis: but with any other manager
three would have been plenty 1t starved.
l am an actor, and can't AFFORD TO play a
season OF twenty-four weeks. with twenty
eisht-week lay-off People inveigh against
the commercial system Well, what ,is
the answer when poetic drama attracts no
notice. and almost any venture outside the
commercial scope goes to the wall?"
Neither the interviewer nor the stout and
beautiful press agent knew, so the talk
ended--at least for publication. b. ID.