Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-23
Mr.. Theodore w. Wharto|
of the Wharton Studios

SION IN which success is achieved witho,N
ho" theatrical manager may push Is
star 10 success by booming her. No matt
'er no" much movie producer might BIZ
personally interested in a girl, he coulE
not Doom her TO success by giving her pre%
ceoence or by advertising Success M
achicVed only by what Dame Nature giveB
-phEsical appearance. a producer COULD
not make his camera lie. No press agent
could work miracles for plain, homel.s
though dvinely gifted movie star.
Formerly, girls who were merely hands
some found their most immediate and cona
Gcniai market in the chorus or as models
ior artlsts. dressmakers and department.
stores. The movie profession now Offers
more IMAM artists. department storesS
dressmakers, photographic concerns and;
musical comedy producers can afford. Fo,s
instance. Mabel Normand was modes
IN Fifth avenue shop and paraded ais
day In clothes which she could never hopes
10 own on her meagre salary. a friendS
suggested she try the movies. She wael
so good looking that she got lob wheps
she first applied. ts
Last year Mabel Normand purchased az
home for $4,000. Had Theda Bara beeps
content TO remain plain Theodosis Good.
man, OF Cincinnati, Ohio she might to-day
De earning Sc week in a Cincinnat.s
store. She applied for a job in the I
movies. her mere appearance fitted VAN
pre- roles, and she is to-day earning more
than the manager OF a department store.
The golden opportunity is open to any
girl whether she lives in city slums OF
remote country town, provided she iz
extraordinarily pretty. If she has beauty,
complexion, profile, eyes, hair, she may
lack III education and quality of voice and
get more in few years than a girl OF
genius and voice who studies years in
Italy for the opera, working for nothing
or little. and attains success as a primo
donna at forty. She can probably secure
the iame and fortune in two years that
1t takes genius to attain in ten to twenty
years IN music, art, the drama and litera.
ture. &
Wnen girl turns up in a producers
studio she is appraised coldly on her
youth and appearance. New productions
are Deing put on every wcek--so many
blondes and so many brilnettes are re-
CURED, and out of the applicants the
best looking girls are weeded. The
trained director Immediately sizes IN an
applicant
Girls who fail as actresses often be.
come leading stars in flmdom. Stature
and quality of voice. in addition to an
ability to act, are necessary for great
success on the stage. But Won don't need
a. Soiuth VOICE Ill the moves, and q
diminutive star draws better than a tan
woman. In the movies small girlish
heroine wins the greatest sympathy from
an audience Nance O'Nell may be
splendid on the stage in one Of Be.asco's
dramas, but girl Of the size Of Mary
Pickford wins out against height in the
movies. Marguerite Clarke was a good
actress. but her tininess prevented her
playing any big stage role. Miss Clarke.
hopeless Of playing heroic roles, went
into the movies and today Is earning s75.-
600 year. Whereas the drama may be
closed to fourfoot-high Bernhardt. tn,
movies are open to the pony"