The Washington times., 1936-01-20

I wended my way home it was
dawn.
Where have you been all
night?" she inquired, unSympa-
thetically. Taking curtain callS?"
Ida writes her own materially
Il was with the Prince Of
Wales"
oh, get into bed!' she NUT
tered. angrily. Il suppose tomor-
row you'll come home at IN the
morning and say you were out all
night with President Coolidge!"
That opening night of the Zieg-
field Follies of 1917-my debut
with the glamorous Ziegfeld, and
my first big chance. 1 should
have been happy, but somehow l
wasn't. Grandma Esther had
passed away a short time before
and I wanted her to be proud
of the kid she raised at such a
great Self-Sacrifice. In this small
dressing room, a skinny dark
haired youngSter, doubled in a
chair. was crying with head bent
over the makeup shelf. A Smil-
ing man shook my hands and
said with a warm human drawl
Don't cry, kid. You're the hit
of the show. Your Grandma, up
above, must be mighty pleased
with you. Why. she was 'plaud-
ing for you even louder than the
rest Of us"
looked up and Smiled-at
Will Rogers.
1t was in this telephone-b booth
like room that Ida waited for me
each night while I did my seven
minute bit at those Follies of
1917. We still lived in the one
room annex to her sisters flat,
and she'd ride downtown from
the Bronx every night and we'd
go home together-on the sub
way.
Ten years later, still in the
FOllieS, it was different. I was
only off the stage for seven
minutes, but Ida didn't mind
waiting then, either. The No.
l dressing room was a nice,
comfortable place.
On the opening night of the
1917 Follies three figures stood
backStage of the New Amsterdam
Theater waiting for their cues.
One of them was a tall, lean
WeSterner from Claremore. Okla.
who chewed gum with the slow.
measured rhythm of eternity; the
second was man of medium
height. puffy-faced. bulbous-nosed
"a ggler. with mischievous
eyes. who hailed from Philadel.
phia; and the third was a thin.
nervous chao-the Youngest of
the trfo-with moving popping
eyes. from Manhattan's East Side.
WILL ROGERS, w. C.
FIELDS. AND me.
I'd give anything to stand
together with them again.
Tn New Year Eve opening
These same seats here now we're
worth $3.50 that night-to those
who were able to ferret them out.
After the performance Ziegfeld
changed his clothes in my dress
ing room. Midnight-and the city
was a whirl {, sound-a kaleido-
scope of noises. He put his arm
around my shoulder. and two
usually laxative men shook hands
without a word. When he de-
parted. I found a bottle of old
wine on the shelf with a little note
from Ziggy. It read: Drink a
toast to me and to the show"
The next evening he came
int" nv dressing room again.
Eddie" he said, you're not
as GOOD as v"H were last night"
care vOu?" asked.
We didn't shake hands that
time.
In the Follies of 1918 I roomed
with Frank Carter. who afterward
married Marilyn Miller. was a
blackface cupid for this romance,
acting as Mr. Fixit for them.
Shortly after their marriage Frank
was killed in an auto accident.
MANY night after the show Van
and Schenck and I would nut on
little impromptu performances in
her dressing room. TO cheer her
up. 1t was so good to see her
smile.
Irving Berlin. composer of the
1927 Zie0feld Follies. and myself
were walking across Fortv-Second
Street to the New Amsterdam. for
rehearsal. A taxicab gra7ed me
and I Jumped back inst in time
with onlv a snail nick to show
for the close call.
Gre CAREFUL" Berlin cried.
''Vou JOCK more upset than
do" told him.
81 am" he returned. "NOthing
had better haDnen tn you're
r'er''her. Tn. letting per cent
of the gross"
There is the seat Colonel Lind.
bergh occupied the rinht he at,
tended the Show-forrth row. cen.
ter. rioht off the aisle He smiled
h~oad1v when I asked him. from
the STAGE. if when flving over
Scotland he found the air-no~ketS
tc7 tioht. October 3. 1907. 7
am backstage when word is flashed