New-York tribune., 1921-05-08
Wbe Gnolutton of q 5tar
artbur 8pro1r

In tracing the evolution Of star
necessarily one begins with the intro
ducticn Of the actor to the public
through the medium OF the stage. Sell
dom does the stery Of the actors prog
ress from his first part to his present
position in the constellation Of the
theatrical armament begin with the
birth Of the actor. Such, however.
must be the beginning Of the story of
Arthur Byron, who is the star in
Thanks to You," at the Thirty-ninth
Street Theater.
1t might be rightly said that he was
born in the purple. His father, the
late Oliver Dowd Byron, was for many
years recognized star on the Ameri-
can stage when Arthur was born. in
Brooklyn, April 8, 1872. There are
thousands Of theatergoers who still re-
member ACROSS the Continent" in
which Oliver Dowd Byron starred wear
after year. It was in this play that
the son made his first appearance on
the stage as a child.
Il never knew anything but the thea
ter" says Arthur Byron of his early
association with the stage. "I did not
want to be an actor, but my father
saw for me no other career than that
which he had followed with honor and
success. My desire was to see some
thing other, than life in the theater.
For me 1t held NO glamour. NV father.
on the other hand, revered 1t. His love
for the theater and FOR the profession
was so great and 30 sincere that he
would lift his hat on entering either
the front Of the house or the stage
door. He believed that the theater
was a great influence for good. This
was one of the contributing causes for
wanting me to follow in his footsteps.
Even while attending school at St
Paul's, Garden City, my holidays were
spent with his company. My father al
ways found something for me to do.
de would have me take some actors
place and give the man holiday.
MY first speaking part was in
Across the Continent I plaved tbe
Indian with only one line. After a
Few weeks he put me in the part of
Black Cloud, one of the principal roles
incidentally, it was in this same part
that William Gillette made his first
appearance on the stage.
"A few weeks ago had occasion 70
look over some old plsybills Of Across
the Continent and / was rather in
terested in seeing that such well
known stars as Mrs. Fiske, Maude
Adams and Ada Rehan supported NV
tather. Ada Rehan made her first an
pearance on the stage in this plav.
IA few seasons later struck out for
myself, and secured an engagement
with Sol Smith Russell and appeared
with him in Peaceful Valley THE
Poor Relation and one of Clyde Fitch's
early plays, April Weather Follow
ing this Joined stock company in
San Francisco,
Like all actors, felt that New York
should have an opportunity to see INV
budding genius and I got an engage
ment in Captain Hearne, U. S. A.
which was produced at the Union
Square Theater on January 8, 1898. E..
j. Henley was the leading man. Among
those in the cast was John z. Ince. the
picture director, who played the part
Of Sergeant Casey. Ida Vernon, one
OF the celebrated actresses of her time,
was prominent in this play.
"Ihe play did not run very long, but
it was eventually the means of an en-
eagemens with Charles Frohman. I
called on this manager at his Office
and when we began to discuss salary