The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-03-12
In New York
BY GEORGE ROSS

 character, they are not as you think they are.
 I've seen garrulous Groucho Marx sit silently spinx-like for hours while speeches. Harpo chewed the fat.
 Although he faces crowded audi toriunls tyrannically, Maestro Arturo Toscanini shies away from Q per- sonal crowd of more than five.
 A dominant figure in all her the- atrical work, Katharine Cornell, nevertheless, is reliant upon her husband, Guthrie McClintic. She never makes decisions without con- sulting him first.
 Tlbbett Tidblt
 What does Lawrence Tibbett hum to himself between opera bows?" Side up to him close while he doesn't suspect and you'll find him intoning Harlemanian jazz.
 And Grace Moore who has tak- en the popular ballads in Holly wood, is generally practicing on an aria.
 Out of bounds of Q naudience, Fannie Brice refuses to utter Q syllable in dialect.
 Out of Q fire hat and oversized goggles, Ed Wynn looks as though he were on his way to the class room to discourse on Piscatorial Life in the Tibet.
 And when not up to comic an- tics for her living Mary Roland is known as one of tte most sedate and reserved residents in the neigh borhood of Broadway or Hollywood. Vallee's Favorlte Topic
 This is also a good time to scotch the rumor tiat Rudy Vallee, Esq, Is just Q nice, curly -headed playboy after hours. Give him q quarter hours respite from grooming and he will talk to you of worldly, pressing problems and the necessity for unionizing vaudeville actors.
 Dorothy Parker, whose quips to- nigkt are tomorrow's broadsides, is the exemplar of politeneSs.
 I've seen Victor Moore, the cor- pulent court clown of the musicals, hark back to passages in Homer for Q literary argument. And Beatrice lille, when not en- gagged in genteel ribaldries onstage, is every inch 2 Lady Peel. Always Themselves
 On the other hand, there are other celebrated folk who trade on play ing themselves during and after of- flee hours.
 It seemed to me the last time I visited Noel Coward in his Wal dorf-Astoria drawing room that he was just as suave, just as debonair in private life as he was in "Pri- vate Lives"
 Name the show or film wherein you saw Leslie Howard in a dress suit or form.fitting clothes. It will be difficult to remember, for the matinee idol prefers studied carelessness even in his characters. When out of 1t, he adopts the same nonchalance and is generally attired in slacks, lounging jacket and a pull-over.
 Also, when you've seen Harry Richman, the perofrmer, you've seen Harry Richman as he is, fas- tidiously groomed fellow, keyed for a song at all hours with @ strutting style and gesticulating manner. Jack Benny's predilection for cig- ars is no affectation: except for in- termsisions of shows he visits, a stogie constantly hovers between his lips.
 Joe Cook Is the greatest inven- tor of useless machinery this coun- try has ever had, onstage and at home. Any visitor to his Sleepless Hollow estate will tell you that the doorknob on the garage door is a beer spigot.
 Brat" Mallgned
 To all of which, somebody is bound to ask: How about that lit- tie Florence McGee girl in "The Children's Hous," the most can tankerous. little brat ever seen tn public? Is she really like that?"
 As a matter of fact. the Mcdec girl was once stopped in a depart ment store by lady who recog- nized her and given the worst bawling out in her life for the lies she tells in the drama. When the trutr is that she is a mild-man- nered. gracious and sweetly dis posed creature without . grudgt toward . soul. It must be that she can act.