The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-21
(F1sis is the third Of four stories fclIi1x in dramatic fashion the drama 1lsnk was the life of David BeiascOD
By GILBERT SWAN NEA Service Writer

On the afternoon that David Be- 7asco bade his resigned farewell to this world, three men sat in cubby- hole reached by means of typical stage alley in Forty-fourth street.
 A crowd that knew of the macs fro's death packed the theater. many Of them drawn by morbid curios- ity concerning the effect the news would have upon the players.
 But just beyond the entrance way marked with the sign stage door," tlJree musketeers of the old Belasco ' regime sat in their shirt-sleeves and talked far into the night. There were Louis Hartman, for 30 years the chief electrician, who had joined t the Belasco forces about the time ~Du Barry and "Za.a' were pro- duced: there was Matthew Purcell. for 28 years a tprops" man and Burk Symonds, the stage manager.
 Upstairs Art Levy, spokesman of stfe governor" answered the phone calls of hundreds of reporters.
 Always Dominant
 And whatever "reminiscences they recalled. they all freely admitted that for more years than they care tO remember they had been 'dom- snated" by "the governor''-and
 For Belasco brooked no interfer- ence. Each play in which he figured as author or producer was "his" show. And such was his chameleon character that he could be all things to all people. He fought and loved and dominated.
 Which is why so many breaks with those close to him came as he neared the peak of his career. It may be recalled that the obituaries mentioned how he had secured six place on the evening before he was fated to die. He was a fight fan, and he was fighter. but he fought with all sorts of weapons. He fought with tears and with the hammering os fist on a desk: he fought with me1odramatic appeals to actresses and playwrights: he tore his hair and he staged some of his finest scenes in his own offices,
 And Always Acting
 For. in the years that followed the rise of Leslie Carter and his monetary success with "The Heart of Maryland." Belasco became. as roles into life.
 It was not a pose; rather it was an emotional habit. When Nina" one of his most recent productions. was literally burning up good money it production costs. the tale goes that Belasco was reminded of the expense. went into tantrum and out that he didn't want to know what anything was costing. His job was tc rroduce!
 The loss on this nlay nut his Be- lasco Theater into the list of mort gaged properties. But one of his frtimates once remarked. "his own best production" Belasco never ceased being an actor. He had erdar crd he carried his next sea- son. 2 light comedy of farcical na- turA brought hinn a mint.
 B,it his first theater in New York -iffs own prideful playhouse-wa thA Stuyvesant. and one after an- otLe- stars were lifted to the Broad way heavens in this spot.
 "Christencd" Mary PickfOrd
 There came. for instance. good looking younrster who gave her name as Gladys Smith. She was looking for stage job.
 "Great heavens. you want to go or the stage with name like Smith, erupted the great theater craftsman. He began to pry into her ancestry, and dug out an uncle by the name of Pickford.
 "That's it." said Belasco. from now on you arc. Mary Pickford." You may have heard of the lady. Beginning with child parts. she made her great hit in "A Good Lit