The Washington times., 1916-03-16
By FLORENCE E. YoDER.

other cheaper places or
amusement, which have
gathered in all OF the real
actors and created a demand which
the stkRe was not ready to fill.
which have made real talent die
out"
Sam Bernard spoke In a hoarse
stage voice, with one eyebrow
raised to a dizzy height. and his
hands stretched ont appealirYiy
to the listener.
He had Just come off the stage.
after having delivered quite a long
speech touching on various sub
jects He had made no distinct
points in II, nor had he said any
thing alarminsly new. witty or
funny. yet the way in which he
had said IL seemed both convince
ing and convulsing.
The admiring observation that
he was quite the liveliest old-timer
who has come back for many
day led him to explain why there
was still room for old-timers. with
both hands, and aided by his hard
boiled shirt upon which he smote
himself at times. he explained.
He had removed his collar. and
sat a short. black haired. healthy
looking individual. with his feet
firmly planted. At times. In the
excitement OF the moment he
would wave them about to i'm
press a statement, but for the most
part, he let his hands do the ac-
centuating.
Few Real Actors.
'I'n tell you Why there are so
few real actors of any kind on the
stage any more. I know. / got
a idea what II Is"
He crossed one leg over and held
II firmly with his hands as IL he
were afraid that 1t wouldn't be-
have, He closed his mouth firmly.
Then opened 1t.
You want me to tell you. Hmm?
All right. Now listen"
He let 80 OF the leg, planted his
feet cnce more on the moor. spread
out his hands on his knees. crouch
cd low. and with his head thrust
forward, whispered hoarsely:
people dor't work anv i;Iore.
out and sing a little song and do =
1ittlo dance at cabaret. or some
cheaper place of amusement. anu
then they think that they are tai
ent.' Other people think so. too.
80 anybody at all goes snoopinE
around and steals a cit OF business
here and a joke or two there. and
makes out that he has written a
song which he hasn't. and then he 10
a real actor.
"He sings around at ono place
and then another and in o week Or
two, maybe, he bursts into vaude-
vile, and he Is On actor.
Worked for IA Years.
lust contrast that with the work
that we used to do. For fourteen
years l trained steadily. L worked
in small places. in the vaudeville
and variety houses, l sang In cheap
places OF amusement like small side
shows. Then after had worked
my way into vaudeville. obtained
n position In a stock company III
Providence. r. l. All the ttme l waF
working and growing. / didn't con-
slider myself full-fedSeG actor by
any means.
"Gcorge Cohan's mother ant
father were in that stock company
and George was just little boy
at school learning to play on tho
| violin"
tie illustrated this by executing I
short passage on his sleeve with thu
opposite hand.
1--WE all worked. And at last wa
able to qualify. l had played ex
tensivcly. and II was Just as II haC
| got my diploma. All of those year
of playing about in the variety houses
ana In burleque-yes. / forgot to tel
YOU about the burleque-was m
training, and when / got through
that training OF which every on
knew was my diploma.
ut was the same with all of othe
actors OF that day. No upstart couI
got up then. They had to have tn
year, of instruction In their art,
Crowd of Specialists.
People need It just as We
nowadays. Audiences are going I
wake up some day to the fact tina
they are merely being amused by
crowd of specialists, who can d
only one single thing In one. way