Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-18

~ FORGE c. TYLER is now ram
sacking the caverns of his
r memory. expectant that he will
~ find therein the substance for
a book of recollections. In
this plan to become photographed.
Mr.. Tyler departs from the habit prac..
ticed by American producers, few OF
whom have told the public the story. OF
their lives. Mr.. Belasco has conflded
his past to numerous historians and
the ample Belasco bibliography
abounds in every drama loverS reading
room. John Goiden's journal, narrat-
ing the details of his upward climb, is
among the most bethumbed Of vol
umes pertaining to the stage. But with
those exceptions our shelves are bare
Of managerial confessions, though they
overflow with extracts from the ad-
ventures of the actors and playwrights.
Mr.. Tyler's unfolding should be rich
resume of the United States Theater
from its swaddling days to its present
titanic embonpoint. He began his in
timacy with the drama as an usher in
the Masonic Opera House Of Chilli
cothe, Ohio, and at the age OF IA or
whereabouts had become the manager of
that shrine of Momus. AT this period I
was the fearless reviewer for the Chilli
cothe Advertiser and because OF my
ferocious attacks upon the fustian or
trivial stuff Of the drama, had been
nicknamed "Old Saber-tooth." 1t was
Mr.. Tyler who first barred me from a
theater. thereby setting an example
still followed by other impresarios. At
fronted by what he thought was
calun1ny in my critique Of Haverley's
Minstrels, he shut the doors on me until
I recanted. That dramatic episode, I
trust, will be included in Mr.. Tyler's
forthcoming recapitulation.
+ X y
The most sentimental of the pro-
ducers. Mr.. Tyler has had career
marked by q romantic alteration Of the
muse. While not altogether Indifferent
TO the clicking of the turnstiles, he has
been more regardful than his fellows
of the purple miStS that are said to
surround the show business. He lights
a candle every time the name OF
Charles Coghlan or James O'Neill is
mentioned, and his worship of Mrs.
Fiske, Booth Harrington, Louis Napo-
leon Parker. George kaufman, William
Gillette and q host Of others diduSeS
an incense unfamiliar to the average
Broadway nostril. Every Summer, for
instance, he makes q pilgrimage to the
chateau country. and in the castles and
CuI-Qe.SdCS OF blOlS SECS cyLic oShCN,
rapier in hand, as "A Gentleman Of
France" I have watched him in Mar
seille on a balcony overlooking the
Chateau DIFF, dreaming for hours in
imagination Of James O'Neill as Ed
mond Dantes frustrating the fates and
exclaiming THE world is minei"
Though Mr. Tyler's activities have been
multiple, extending from Mrs. Wigs
Of the Cabbage Patch" to Browning's
"Pippa Passes" they have not been
of a sort to bring him riches. He has
gained huge fortunes by his successful
plays and lost them back by his fall
ures. None of his frequent enterprises
has been cheap, and he can put his
hand on his heart and swear that he
has done his best. He arrives at the
age of "reminiscences wrapped in the
humorous sadness of Jacques In the
sundry contemplation of his travels.
and his log will be an interesting gazette
of the downs and ups of sincere
acolyte Of the drama. It should be
even more engrossing, since Mr.. Tyler
has asked q dramatic critic to edit
his memories in the hope that they
will thus retain features that he him