New-York tribune., 1918-02-03
Bv Harriette Underhill

,,,,on," we asked Of William Russell
"a which he replied: "Oh, no, indeedl
- always has been the height of M,
.uhition to play the piano with on.
land and smoke a cigarette with The
..ner.~ And at that We tore up nj
-. notes which we had made abou
sp,y Bill" and settled down to stay
vhilc and have q good time, for we
n.rned something about Mr.. Russell
xhich had escaped US In the first cur.
,ory Interview.
You sec it was like this: Both Bill
md we we're on our good behavior at
srst, When the intervicwee is SO ex-
,,.mely dignifed and courteous and
Sstsntly respectful 1t bchooves the in
|, .rviewer to behave in like manner
and not to be unduly facetious-hcnce
our restraint
Unless our memory plays US false
= yr Russell had at tho first sitting
.,id Eyes, ma'am" to US, or possibly
:. xas "No, ma'am," and wc supposed
+ ,s was either bashful or upstage. So
~ resolved to stick strictly to busi-
ness and ask him the usual questions
,,cut age, occupation, color, drama,
ilent and otherwise, and how he liked
ths East. We didn't know, then, that
Ia was born here. Yes, sir, Bill Rus
al is Bronxer. But that we learned
IN our second interview, the human
eue. after we had begun to get ac-
quaintcd.
Some Of the things We learned in our
FIRST interview were that Mr.. Russell
had gone into pictures, after a varied
stage experience, and that his first
uicturcs were made seven years ago in
the old Biograph studios, where every
body started. That he went over to
tho Thanhouser and stayed there for
. couple Of years before returning to
the Biograph. Then he went to Klaw
( Erlanger and made some three-reel
nictures-a marvel for length in those
days.
Then to the Famous Players and
worked with Gladys Hansen and Flor
snce Reed and Jane Cowl He also
phycd the hero in "The Diamond from
tie Sky" That much we learned by
ssking. BY observation we learned
that he had the thickest, BLACKLIST eye
lashes wo ever saw. and that he didn't
f,f-o octnr fnv OIL %hot
That is all we learned before Bill
broke tho ice by telling us his real
ambition.
"Yes, it is true-that is the height of
my ambition and I suppose it will be
realized. All my others have been.
Did you see that travelling bag I
brought with me from the West?
Well, won that in 2Oo-yard dash
ono Of my ambitions realized. Then
I wanted to be life-saver, for some
inexplicable reason, so I practised
by doing 75-foot dive off bridge
into the East River, and ] quail
ded sowelfthat I became a life-saver
at the Chicago Beach Hotel. SO that
no longer interested me. I wished to
become a tunbler and do stunts in the
street and have money thrown at ME.
30 that / did, too, only the money
which was thrown at me was not suffi-
aeat to pay Tor my fourteen months
10 the hospital while broken shoulder
vas being set and reset. So after I
came out of the hospital I decided l
wouldn't be a tumbler after all
should become boxing instructor; so
I became that. And then I took a
sketch out on the road, but it was a
boxing sketch. I didn't intend to give
that up. Oh, yes, knew all about the
stage. Hadn't 1 been with 'Chimmie
Faddens when was eight years old,
and hadn't played the Saint in St.
Elmo for two seasons?"
Right here little Mabel Condor
Joined US, and she said Immediately,
'Oh, do tell about the time you got
Jimmie Quirk to ride the wild horse
from the livery stable and cover the
orange trees with tarpaulin to keep off
the frost"
Bill smiled and his eyes twinkled
tsminiscently. We learned later that
Il Is his idea of good time to tell
his guests from the East who go to
visit on his ranch in Santa Barbara
that the orange trees have to be COW
cred each night to keep them from
freezing and to get said guests to do
the covering if he can. 1t is the same
sort Of joke they play on the embry-
onic actor when they send him to tell
the stage director that the key to the
eurtain has been lost.
And the other one is good, too. Bill
asks his guests to ride with him, and
then be sends over to a livery stable
Tor gentle nag and has him led in
ai strapped up, with three men hold
ING him, to prove that he is the famous
outlaw horse which killed any number
OF Red Riders. "Only it didn't work
WITH Jimmie Quirk. You see, he breaks
Wild horses, and so he took one look