The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-03-26
M e N, w o M EN-
AND THIN G S

IN the whirligig Of time there is
constant shifting in our viewpoints. fo
things in their day which seemed per
fectly proper as the years roll by may
become improper
Take the case Of Elizabeth Bruce Man
tell, who was perfectly willing that hci
son. Robert, should be apprenticed in =
willing that he should become a pro
fessional actor and thereby bring re-
proach upon the family name.
Even Bob himself was willing to maxi
a concession because ne took a stag
name 1t was on his opening night at Al.
bany, n. Y. when as Tybalt he support
ed Madame Hodjeska in Romeo and Juliet
that he first appeared under his own
name. Heretofore he had always beer
put on the bill as Robert Hudson.
Sargent asked him, What shall We
cali you on the programmed" Robert
Hudson. I suppose was his answer.
That's what l have been calling my
self ali along" But your name is more
distinctive" countered Sargent, there
are hundreds of Hudsuns N America.
"A1l right" returned the actor, put it
in Manteli. We are a long way from
Belfast"
| Many Of my older readers will recall
the days when practically every grocer
handled whisky and wines. and it was
f~s M
tillers in Some of the states not only held
membership in them without question, bul
were found on the various boards.
we'll recall how in Kentucky a prominent
Baptist church was under FIRE because
I ii refused when prohibition wave hit
the town to turn out those who made
whisky.
| am not here and now undertaking tc
pass Judgment on the morality of the
questions l am bringing up, but am cit
ing them merely to show how morals
themselves. or that is the conventions
ideas about what is right and wrong, arc
subject to change or revision. There ha;
been constant improvement in the SO
cial status Of the actor just as Their,
was a growing feeling against those en-
gagged in the liquor business from dis
tillers, wholesalers, on down to the bar.
tenders
am using Mantelrs case to show the
change which has taken place in regard
to players within our own memories.
Later l hope to show the way in which
they were regarded in Shakespeare:
times. 1t is hard to realize that his
mother was heartbroken when Bobby
left the wholesale liquor house to become
an actor, and that his old nurse wa
heard to say: "Oh. Bobbie, Bobbie boy,'
and went weeping from the room.
But the grief of the two good womer
cannot be charged to the fact that they
we're Scotch Presbyterians of the ole
school To get at the root of the mat
ter it is necessary to glance at the so.
cial status of the actor in England and
! the English dependencies as late as the
seventies, for in those days the profess
sional actor was looked upon as a little
better than the vagabond the law of the
realm claessed him.
| Bullet has brought together SONS
striking facts in the situation. No re
| spectacle person liked to be caught 81
! the street with one of these picturesque
strollers 1t was all right to ask hin
to take a drink with you at the bar o.
| a public house, and even under certain
circumstances you could invite him int
your home for few hours, but dis
| tinctiy as a social inferior. He tells how
Mantells own brothers, on his return
after a season on the stage, wer,
slueamish about walking down thu
street with him, although they wer'
| decent enough to him at home.
/ It's hard to believe, but it was har,
when he began his stage career to fin;
in the rural districts public house tina
would keep an actor overnight, an,
many and many time Mantell had tn
door OF an inn slammed in his face whel
he revealed his profession. On .one oc
CO sion, after sleeping in haystacks TO
several nights, he applied at a neat look
ing rooming house for lodging. Whel
asked his business he said that he wa
travelling for London firm. and ,s-
given a soft, clean bed
| Now here is delicious bit, which
shows that prejudice is prejudice, 70
when he awoke refreshed in the rnorninI
he found his portmanteau neatly packed
ard sitting on the doorstep outside. Upol
inquiring the reason OF the discourtesy
the proprietor Of the inn told him kindl,
that during the night he had found GU
that he was an actor, and couldn't kee
him any longer. He let him have hi
sleep out. but could not take any none
for the accommodation, showing at leas
that he had a heart
/ spoke Of having an actor in one
home for a brief spell, but as a socia
inferior. TO understand this in the full
est one must know the social custor
Of England with IT'S gradations in rank
and classes. I'll never forget when get
ting ready to dock at Liverpool an oil
sailor, in speaking OF some one. sal
to me, "oh, he is gentleman's. SON.
/ Boy though was l felt that it was
slap in the face at my democracy.
AS late as 1878, according to Bulne
who looked into the subject when play
ers were invited to great functions
England to use their talents in the ger
eral merrymaking, "a silken cord wa
stretched across the drawing room t