The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-08-09
CRASH INJURIES
HAVE DISABLED
RESTLESS FEET
~e.;rament of Veteran Comedy
Star May Be Forced by
Airplare
LEGACY is HIS DAUGHTER
INTERPRETATION of the Scare
crow in Wizard of o. Is
Unforgettable

New York, Aug. 9.-The restless
J feet Of Fred Stone. that have patted
ant staccato rat-a-tat-tat- on Amer
lean stages from New York TO sac
Francisco for more than quarter
Of a century, may never again move
to music. The one remaining part
ner Of the great old team OF Mont
pomery and Stone probably IS los1 70
the stage for good. !.
For Fred Stone. who left hone IN
Kansas at the age Of Is to JOIN =
circus. and who rose to become one
of the theater's greatest stars. 10
paving the penalty for his boundless
energy. At SO he went in for AVA
ton. Taking trial flight the o.1er
day he crashed and broke both legs.
He'll recover, Of course; but II IS
doubtful if he can ever dance again.
A couple of years ago, speaking
to a crowd Of fellow actors and
actresses, Fred Stone announced
that he had legacy which he would
leave when he passed on. He had
given his daughter Dorothy to the
stage. and he had two more daugh-
tiers who would go on the stage wher
they were old enough; that. said
Fred Stone, would be his legacy.
His Other Legacy
But while the present generation
lives it has another legacy: legacy
of memories, in which comic figures.
dressed in outlandish costumes. 60
dancing and grmacinR over shad-
owv stages Of theaters long since
closed. 49,.
There is the scarecrow from THE
Wizard Of o." Hopping behind the
footlights in the comic, insane FASH
ion that delighted hundreds Of thors-
ands Of children. There is the Chin.
csc clown from Chin-Chin, the show
: that would be running yet II Dave
Montgomery hadn't died ~ years
ago in Chicago; there is the incred-
ibly youthful dancer from Stepping
Stones. in which Fred Stone intro
!, duced his daughter Dorothy to the
public and proved that his promise Of
: a legacy was no mere talk; there IS
why go on? Until this Rcner-
alton cf theater-goers dies. Fred
{ Stone can't retire, broken legs or no.
!, The floppy old Scarecrow,. gone now
: to join the Tin Woodman. is still 60
!; ing strong. :.
i No present-day actor has qait4
9 the hold on the public that Fred
7 Store has had. Perhaps that has
been because he has been such a So.
! perlative dancer, such an excellent
Z clown. And perhaps it has been be-
cause cf his attitude toward the the.
:; alter and his part in it.
His Shows Wholesome
During recent years, when other
2 producers Of music shows were try
. ing to see how few clothes they could
6 dress their chorus in and how many
g shady jokes they could pack into
!. their script, Fred Stone has always
! insisted that he would never appea,
e in a show that 81 can't take my owr
A kids to see." Wholesomeness ha.
always been an adjective you could
g safely tack on q Fred Stone show
You always knew in advance there
9 would be nothing in it to offend the
y most delicate sensibilities. FREQ
Y Stone has played for the great Amer
. lean family.
y Stone was born in Valmont, Colo
9 RADIO, So years ago, and the first
E eight years Of his life were year!
of wandering as his nomadic father
! drifted about the west in a covered