New Britain herald., 1930-10-01

ter Ethel Barrymore Colt a fine
 school.
 New York, Oct. 1. R>-Amid the garages and jazz band rehearsal halls, of West Forty seventh street there stands a building with gleam- ing white facade. It is the royal palace of the American stage, the Ethel Barry more theater.
 It was here, in private dressing room suite made restful by it's soft, blue decor, that we found Miss Bar rymore on an afternoon just after rehearsals of Scarlet Sister Nary This, we knew, was an important play for it not only compels Miss Barrymore. the first of her family ever to do such, to appear as a negro woman, but it also marked the debut of Ethel Barrymore Colt This Miss Colt, too, was impor- tant, the ninth generation of the royal stage family taking, for the first time, her place as crown prin- cess.
 Interviewing Miss Barrymore is nc task for sensitive newspaper man. We had heard that she was not wholly in favor of her daugh- ter taking up a stage career. and we asked her if this were true.
 "I think your question an i'm
 pertinent one." she answered.
 Why shouldn't she go on the
 stage? My family has always
 been on the stage and I con-
 sider it the highest profession,
 just as I consider yours (the
 newspaper profession) the low
 est"
 Miss Barrymore always says ex- actly what she thinks.
 "Of course, I was a little sur prised when Ethel came to me, ,' she continued, land said she was going to play with me in Scarlet Sister Nary!
 She had never said a word be- fore about it, and I had always in ferred that she would take up mu- sic as a career as she is very tal- ented both as singer and as a pianist.
 Now that she has decided on the stage, I am glad. She belongs in the theater. I never tried to in fluence her one way or another. I believe in allowing my children to choose their own careers. I want her to work.
 T certainly wouldn't want her around with nothing to do but play bridge and tennis, or whatever it is that idle people do."
 Miss Barrymore is one actress who has never hesitated to talk right back to critics. There is a rumor that she bars more review CTS sfrom her playhouse than she allows to enter
 Knowing this, we decided to get her opinion of her daughter as an actress before the critics had an opportunity to state theirs.
 T think my daughter is a
 fine actress. one of the finest"
 she answered. T have seen her
 in dramatics at school and in
 rehearsals of the Julia Peter
 kin play, and she is marvellous.
 She doesn't begin her career with any illusions about a life of ease and happiness in the theater. She has been with me too much, and she knows that she must work hard, terribly hard. She knows that she must always go on, that she can never stop for one second as long as she is conscious enough to walk on stage.
 "She knows what I've gone through, how often I've played when I did not feel like it. I haven't had an understudy in eight years"
 And suppose your daughter fol- lows Lionel and John into the movies. Would she desert the stage for talking pictures?" we asked.
 The stage is her career,
 whore she belongs" was the
 firm, almost belligerent, an-
 swer. She will always be on
 the stage. Perhaps she may
 make talking picture during
 a summer holiday, but that is
 all
 My daughter has had many of fers to appear in pictures, but she has paid no attention to them. First comes the stage, and. then, too, she will continue her studies in music After that, if she has the time, she may play in a picture.
 But. only the stage is impor- tant now"