The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-09
Marie Dressler Tells Of Victory
Gained for Them in the
Actors Strike.
CALLS 1T GOOD CONTRACT
Trade Union League Learns
How Recent Fight Opens
New Stage Era.

| find that she and the other chorus girls
and actresses and actors had showed
the President Of the United States of
the front page of the newspapers.
She told the Women's Trade Union
League all about It last night when she
| went Mt the invitation of Miss Rose
| Schneiderman to talk about the actors
| strike. Age and a walking delegates
life cannot wither. nor can the hottest
night Of the year wilt Marie when her
bcert is in thing, and she went into
the little room on the fifth floor of
the Rand School, where the w. T. u. Las
were tanning themselves and gasping
! and wiping the Precipitation from their
brows, as fresh as a large and blooming
rose. In a lace gown and pink hat
| with feathers. Beaming and bowling her
| thanks for the reception the w. T. u. LIS
gave her. she took her place at the little
| table prepared for her, and then her
| eyes became glued to something that
lay on the table, and with a look Of
mingled horror and rapture she muir
| INJURED:
why this temptation"
Hastily Miss Schneiderman swooped
down and rescued $2S.25 which had just
| been collected for the striking cigar MAX
| ers and their destitute families. and put
| IL In a far corner lest Miss Dressler's
1
should prove too much for her.
Didn't Think They Would Strike.
Marie said she never believed the ac-
| tors could strike-she couldn't believe
that they had. at first
Il was away on a four days vacation.
the first I'd taken in three years., she
| said. I've been working all these years
| for our boys in the camps; the greatest
\ work in the world, girls-the greatest
work in the world The first day of my
vacation I walked up and read that the
actors had struck. They can't strike,
said. we can't do anything without
| the press, and the managers have got
| the press But we did strike, and we
showed the President of the United
States Off the front page, and the proud
est day of my life was the day we
| did it."
Miss Dressler was feeling quite elated
| because the contract she pulled off for
! the chorus girls was SO much better, she
| said, than the one the actors got.
They've got an arbitration clause in
the actors contract. They can't strike
in five years There's no arbitration
| clause in my contract. 1 wouldn't stand
| for 1t. / can strike wherever 1 want
4 to, and the managers know 1 WILL" cried
Marie with a resounding whack of her
two hands, adding. 'if there's provoca-
| ton. I'm waiting. There's some of the
chorus girls writing me that they haven't
been taken back. I'm giving the man
| ayers a chance. I'm waiting.
THE chorus girls contract is good
one. l made the minimum wage $50
\ week in New York and s35 on the
+! road / say minimum wage has got
| to be enough to let a girl save IS a
| week, and II they say she can live on
$40 say give her $35 and let her save
IS.
Secured Hippodrome Contract.
THE Hippodrsme contract-that Is a
| stiff thing" exulted Miss Dressler with
a grin. IT pulled that or myself; all
the others were up In Syracuse. l
pulled that minimum up to $35, and
| some of those girls had only been get
| ting $50. And just to show you the
spirit of those chorus girls-one of
them came to me and thanked me for
getting the contract, and she said /:
| Miss Dressler. 1 lose by sit-Tve been
doing some extra work that brought my
wages up to s42 a week. and now I'll
only get s35, but I'm glad for the
| others sake And l said, oh, no,
dearie; you'll get you're s42: / made
the salaries stand. but got the minimum
for the others But don't the way she
felt make you admire 'em?"
| Miss DRESSER had several terse things
] TO say about the members of the yellow
league" as she named II. IT guess you
know the organization / mean,' she OBJ
| served. "Oh, we all knew from day to
! day who was going to join that league
We all know our yellows. Well, there
are some folks who are always up in the
air. and that's where they have been.
and they're up in the air still. For my
self" said Marie with a tolerant, sad
| smile, 81 have nothing but pity for such
folks 1t must be awful to be put in a
world and see no further than your nose
But Ethel Barrymore-theres a
| hlghbrow who can be broad when the
| time comes. Ethel and her brothers
were beautifully brought up. She never
| knew what II was to be hungry, as
have; yes, I've been hungry for three
| days at time, but Ethel never had that
| and yet, though she had always walked
| the narrow way" Miss Dressler made
gestures illustrative OF the tucked-in ex.
istence of those to whom three square
meals a day is a matter of course thing,
''she could be grand and human when
| the time came.
Ethel and 1 Joined the Equity at
the same time. l didn't belong to the
Equity was always scared of leagues,
l
Observation-Disclosures is asking me to come
and speak there; but when they said
You can help the actors strike II you
join the Equity / said, Lead me to it.
Actors Hide Their Needs.
I've always been wanting to get
| away from the chain around our necks
And in the strike saw a chance You
don't know how the actor works. He
has no time to himself. You SEQ us
| laughing on the stage-we've got to do
| II. We can't show our troubles. Why,
| there were actors and actresses going to
the camps to amuse our soldiers who
hadn't cent; was paying their rent,
| and all they had to eat was the handout
I they got at the canteens. Did they let
any one guess they were worried =?
Never. But now 1 hope we're going to
| ger a square deal.
And another thing I'm hoping to God
that this struggle will be the means of
bringing the managers and actors nearer
4 together. Now the manager hates the
actor, and the actor hates the manager.
1t wasn't so In the olden times. man
ager hadn't much money then and he
took a chance, and the actors were will
ing ana glad to take chance with him
because II he lost he lost as we'll as they.
But the commercialism of to-day has
ruined art. and that's why I'm hoping the
strike will change our relations"
Miss Dressler begged her hearers not
| to be hard on chorus girls. They've