The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-31

popular moving picture star, who W that is. the rugged mountaineer type; he was born up in Syracuse, N. Y, where he was just as popular as lad as he is TOW as an actor and moving picture str.
 MT Blackwell went to school in his home town just like any other every 1 day boy and learned lot because he 1 was studious and very apt, and when 1 he was ready to qualify for college, he chose Cornell, which he loves as his i ''Alma Mater just like all the other col lege boys in the world love their Alma Mater even though he has had so many
 diversions and many things to turn | him from such fancies.
 l In the meantime, he had terrible ac- 1 cident; or, wait, let's see if it really was l ''terrible;" perhaps that isn't the exact 1 adjective to use; but any way, the ac- cldent was this: He was very badly bit 1 ten oh, yes, it was awful, and guess l what sort of q bite it was?
 1 It was bite by a stage bug, and a | 1 terrible or not?
 1 Anyway this handsome young man was | diverted from path of commercial sue | cess by this stage bug bite and | strightway he forsook commercialism and things financial and at the age of 19 1 he followed the sage advice of Horace G Grely "Go west, young man, and grow
 up with the country, for he made
 straight for Colorado and landed in | Denver.
 l There was a splendid stock company
 playing in Denver at that time at Elitch' s Gardens, and the youthful embryo star,
 who was later to blaze his way to the
 foremost pinnacle of success on the legi- innate stage and the cinema. made ap-
 plication for place in the company. l Being young and handsome and earn est and ambitious, the management of
 the stock company granted him trial,
 and as soon as the manager found out how talented young MT. Blackwell was he straightway offered him an engage, l ment
 l When Mir Blackwell was talking to
 
 l York previously mentioned), he told me
 all this and furthermore he> said: 1 ITO make q long story short, gained the experience I was seeking in this ex- celent stock company and my first en- l gagement was with none other than the
 great actress, Bertha Kalich, whose art
 ls incomparable her last play, ''The 1 ba;, piece of the stage.
 | After that I was starred in Brown of Harvard Mir. Blackwell continued and later played in the wonderful ! aramatization of the Gilbert Parker l story. The Right of Way, and this 1 served to give me experience in to- tally different line of theatrical work,
 all of which was to be of vast benefit to me later From the legitimate stage" Mir | Blackwell said, q heard the call of the movies-as so many other actors have and could not resist the temptation to try out my luck in them. and so I began | my screen career, which I found very fascinating and delightful. I played for eight consecutive years in the movies
 with never vacation, and at last the light of day came and packed up bag and baggage and left the studios and 1 went out into the wilds of almost. I 1 night say desert, where I camped and 1 lived the life of a nomad for weeks and weeks, recuperating from the terrific strain of the strenuous work I had un | dergone
 IT anybody should ever happen to teIl you the movies are easy, that all YOU l have to do is to try to look pretty and l draw your salary. don't you believe ft.v 1 MT. Blackwell said "On the other hand ct me tell you that it is the hardest life
 n the world; it means days and weeks consecutvely of the greatest hardship, l irudgery, making pictures over and over. rying out novelties and working over
 all this from early morn to dewy eve. And shall I ever go back to the
 legitimate stage?" I recall Mir. Black
 we'll repeating the question after me
 as we stood in the monday glare of the hottest sort of May-time sun-just out l side of the picture he was making
 while MT. Brady called for him to get
 in line. Cameras ready and he took
 just long cough to answer my question,
 You can depend upon it that am."
 MT. Blackwell said. shaking handsswith
 me cordially. The very first time I
 can get role that appeals to me am going to resume my theatrical ca reer--and probably never forsake the legitimate stage again.
 That was. let me see---oh. five years ago--when had the nice visit and talk with MT. Carlyle Biackwell-and he has been just as good as his word, for. when congenial role was offered to