The Washington times., 1930-03-07
D OPPORTUNITIES
GOODON STAGE,
STAR SAYS
BY JAMES L. KILGALLEN
international News Service Staff
fsnrregrOpadng1t


international News Service Staff
Correspondent
Copyright. 1880. By International
News SeFvtce)
PALM BEACH, Fla, March T.
Billie Burke, world famous come
dienne and the wife OF FlorenZ
Ziegfeld, the producer, thinks
there are more opportunities for
the American girl on the stage to-
day than ever before. This is so,
she said in an exclusive in.er-
view. because Of the sustained in
terest in the legitimate theater
and the development OF the
''talkies."
Miss Burke sat on the sun
porch of her palm-shaded home
on ocean Boulevard, fronting on
the Atlantic, and discussed at
length the theater which she mas
graced for years. She Is a slim,
titian-haired beauty, extremely
modest and a gracious hostess.
She looks no more than 80. al
though she is the mother OF a
daughter, Patricia, aged l3.
"I think the theater at1ords
more opportunities today than
ever before" said MISS b'trke. =:
"The theater has grown. noC N
grandeur, but in the numoer ol
nlayhouses. And look al Ine mum
ber Of producers! .+orarco
"you cannot discountenanCe
49, ,,oo+ion nictures and the talA
ies @ Thev offer an outlet for ORA
matte talent never before ap-
nroached. The talkies are only
in their infancy and provloet pt,1s
great many more opportuIllCles
than when I was trying 10 Hahs
good in the theater.
"We hardly realize in this mar
velous age in which we are NVlng
what is being accomplished IN
the theater as result OF recent
inventions. Think of the mechan'
ical as well as artistic progress
that is being made in the talkles!
THE motion picture Is SO iaI-
reaching. Look at the names Cna0
have come into stardorn through
the agency of the smovles.
Miss Burke is planning to DO q
"talkie" when she obtains the
proper vehicle. She has appeared
in silent pictures.
Good acting, in her opinion,
requires "a certain vitality" Sne
said she has no sympathy with
"the lackadaisical style" OF act
ing. -
"The screen requires more OF
the actor or actress than does the
| legitimate theater," Miss Burke
explained. There is certain
thickness between the screen and
the audience that has to be
pierced. and only a few stars
can really successfully bridge It.
'"Take Gloria swanson. She
can. She has a rapier-like, CLAM
orous personality that gets across
from the screen to the audience
and after you leave the theaTer
YOU still remember her"
| Miss Burke spoke proudly or
her daughter and her husband.
Hers is one marriage of theatrical
people that has been a success.
| DIG uOCS k1Ob bCAICNC L oOA "\A~ "AAA
become an actress, but hopes Sne
will be a musician as she seems
to be musically inclined. zieg-
fields father was famous mu-
sician. Patricia loves the theater
but her mother fears she has
not the make believe mind"
Mr.. Ziegfeld. she said, has done
his best work in the last five
years. This has been due to
the pressure of competition which
has made him strive harder. He
is now g. She pointed out the
present lavishness of the zlegteld
| productions and said that when
! the first ''Follies" was produced
20 years ago the show cost but
SIS, 900.
Marion Davies, Billy Dove and
Lilyan TaShman were cited by
Miss Burke as three Of the most
famous and accomplished ac-
treSses who at one time graced
her husbands "Follies." She re-
ferred TO Mr.. ziegfeld as the
| wizard nf the theatHr