The Washington times., 1935-10-16
Facial DroIIery

'By degrees he did less and
less Of the drawing, and many
times I wondered what became
Of Wildhack. Mrs. Crosby and
I attended the revue and this
man did his snoring act. /, like
yourself, thought him very
funny and better than some Of
the first line comedians. Years
ago I had . studio with one Of
his closest friends, but 1 never
met Wildhack personally, and
yet, I knew about him. The
man made such an impression
on me with his snoring that,
laughingly, I turned to the pro-
gram to see who he was, and to
my amazement read Robert
Wildhack.
81 think You m . de q very
fine observation In regard to
him because he Is an excellent
comedian, one Of the greatest
I have seen Of that type. For
instance, Buster KeatOn and
Charles ButterwOrth and others
are one note men. At no time
do they give you the impreS-
sion that they are other than
conscious that they are come
dians. This mask Of facial
drollery Is . mask Is old rs
the $heater props. IN . word,
the mechanics are everything.
At least / feel that way about
II. Therefore, I was pleased to
see that you felt the same way
In regard to Wildhack. His
drOllery is not put on. It seems
natural. He really gets over
and that makes It funnier (the
idea that he Is obSesSed with
his snoringl for that reason. At
no time do I feel that Wild
hack conveys consciousness
that he Is getting over laughs
and I think that this is great
art. Congratulations on such .
splendid observation on your
part. / thought you would like
to know my reaction to your
comments, and / thought you
would like to know that year
after year in the Dutch Treat
Club Year Book, Bob Wildhack
Is listed as an artist. He did
covers for Life and inside car
tOonS and IS = very fine
draughtSman.
Punished a Bore
Bob Wildhack and I were in
that Club when it was limited
to 100 members, something like
Is years ago. Marc Connolly
writes his own play and acts in
1t every year, and some of the
funniest stuff I have ever seen
has taken place on the Dutch
Treat Club stage.
years ago, there's . very
funny story in regard to the
Club, when they had a mem
bership Of 100. There was q
member who annoyed every
body with his remarks which
were always out Of order. I be-
ieve 1t was when they met in
Keene'S Chop House that the
incident took place. The OBJ
jectionable party became 50 an
nOying to all members that one
rose and with q wink which was
passed around the table, an.
nOunced that he was resigning
form the Dutch Treat Club. In
stantly, other members followed
suit and the Objectionable party
was left. Everybody shoe k
hands and departed for the sub
way, and when one saw the
Objectionable party without q
club to his name, drop q nickel
in the Stile, they all rushed
back to the Chop House and
formed the Club again. It is
the only club in the country
which resigned from q member.
"There Is a wonderful spirit
Of cOmaraderie in the Club, and
while 1 have not attended q
lunch or an annual dinner for
two years, there's something
of q spirit which will never die
among the members, and when
one Of our group makes good,
as Bob Wildhack is making
good, we want to stand up and
cheer, because Bob WiIdhack's
been through . hard fight and
he deserves all the credit in the
world. I think your comments
were grand, especially when you
praised him above some first
line comedians, because you
are absolutely right.
'WarmeSt regards and more
power to your critical pen, /
beg to remain,
Sincerely,
PERCY L. CROSBY"