The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-08-12

r~rapedian Who Knew Shakespeare
by Heart From Cover to Cover and
Drew $50 a Week Now on Movie
"lots"-He Always Wore His Hon.
ors C~onspieuously and You Couldn't
Blame Him for They Frequently
Covered the Lack Of a Clean Shirt
He vas Of proud and naughty mien,
with a nose red and dubious at the
end. He st0lked, in Booths best
Richard III manner, up to Pop" Cald.
well, seneschal of the inner works of
The Music Box in Forty-hfth street.
says the New York Times, and an
nounced In sonorous, resonant tones:
IT would have speech with Mr.. Col
Her"
Hands on hips. head thrown back,
one foot and leg advanced, he glow
cred at Pop" like a hungry ogre de-
prived Of a snack. He wore a full
skirted, bellying Prince Albert frock
| coat, green and shiny with age, dap
pied with glistening spots and with
buttons missing here and there. Stick
ing through one sleeve vas az elbow
resembling the breastbone Of a lean
turkey. His frayed trousers bottoms
seemed to be racing each other to see
which first would get owe the tops
of split shoes whose uppers gaped
above cracked soles. An ancient silk
hat, moth-eaten and weatherbeaten.
aar,Arn1 lilyA q cny1tfln6 shin nfnn a
shock of black hair, showing rusty
brown ftreaks where the dye had
worn off. whose ends draped a grimy
celluloid collar. Attached to its front
was a shredded neckcloth spot notified
like the coat.
Rising from the collar was a lean.
stringy neck and a face of ~tight-drawn
skin, old and scanned. But the eyes
were full of fire, and all Of Shake
speare's tragic protagonists were en-
bodied In the grandiloquent pose
Othello, Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Rich
ard III, Shylock.
Pop left him there and went to
William Golfers dressing room.
"There's a ham outside for you. Mr..
Collier he said.
boil 1t and bring 1t in," replied Col
Her.
TITS already picked" returned
"Pop." 'Take a look"
Collier descended a few steps and
looked around a jog.
"Pop,' that's a nifty" he whis-
pered. Send it to Solly Ward. Here,
give him this and shoe him off" He
slipped a bill into Pops hand.
The Last of the Breed.
Must be one. of the last of the
breed of ham actors or hamfatters,'
explained Pop" as the rumble of an
expostulating voice fioated up the
stairs, mingled with Pops ~staccato
"Nuthin' more dom, git along"
Ten years ago this time Of year
they were thicker on Broadway than
taxicabs are now. Origin of the term
ham actor or 'hamfatter'? I've heard
several versions. The most likely two
are those which ascribe the birth OF
the title to the fact that actors of the
type meant always played, or were try
luS u pay Ildilitt, aho VIII wv Nv
In funds to get cold cream with which
to remove their makeup used essence
OF cooked pig.
"When the Rialto was the Rialto
when every corner was a listening
post for a group of actors attendant
on the triumphant recital of some
Observation-Disclosures trouper, the ham
fatter' was in his glory. He was al
ways an actor, always in character
always strutting and striding ant
s%traddling. If he always wore his
laurels conspicuously you couldn't
blame him, for they frequently covered
the lack of a clean shirt. He gave
a continuous performance along
Broadway from Weber and Fields
Music hall at Twenty-ninth street tt
Hammerstein's furthest north Victoris
at F~orty-second.
broadway was his summer resort
and his were long summers, from JUNE
TO September. New York had no sum
mer theater season in his heyday. H,
came back from trouping, from all thu
points of the compass, with nothing
saved except the clothes he stood In
end unbreakable faith-his seeming
conceit, believe, at bottom was faitl
in his own abilities and the big en-
gagement that was coming in the fall
Wore Winter Clothes In July.
"He sweated beneath winter clothe!
in the July sun and held his conclave!
on the theater and plays of the future
beneath the shade of store awnings
until the p%roprietors, not looking OF
him as a trade-pulling attraction
drove him away. He discovered. loni
ago, that the stage and actors were
degenerating and hiE f~orebodings were
lust as gloomy as those of our youn:
~fhtellectuals of criticism are today
Summer furs were not fashionable
then. but many a leading lady wor,
them if she could afford to keep then
in her own hands. His wardrobe wal
the 'hamfatter's' bank account. hi
LIQUID asset, and the pawnbrokel
kept 1t beyond reach of moths TO
him. All through the summer month:
the royal robes of kings and queenI
and the court costGmes of dynastiel
lay In dark recesses, issuing forth il
tfe fall when the fortunate actor go
advance on the first weeks salary o
an engagement.
"The ham had no bachelor apart
nant. no hotel room. such as I