The Washington times., 1936-04-14

sest ssrnornent" was the day I stood
across the street from the Cort
Theater on Fortyeighth Street
and watched workmen spell out
my name in lights. It seemed to
take them an Ilnreasonably long
time. I must have walked so
miles waiting for them to finish
so I could admire the final effect.
Thrills like that come only once
In o lifetime.
DARK HOUR-And the "dark-
est hour" in my own experience
came when the Equity strike tenn.
porarily ended my career on
Broadway Just before it started.
I was all made up for the Listen
Lester role when the news of the
strike was relayed to me in my
dressing room. I took the makeup
off and sat there stunned for .
long time.
Then / went out and Joined
Equity. A few weeks later my
father died in Toledo and I had
to borrow the train fare to go
to his funeral As I got off the
train IN Toledo the newSbOys
were calling the news. The
strike was over and was q long
distance away from any job
that might be offered me.
LOVELY LADY Lottie Will
Nams was the first great star I
ever saw on the stage. Thirty
years later she was to play my
aunt ON the stage in "Elmer the
Great" CA lovely LADY, Great
New York shows ! remember par
ticularly, include: Jack Donahue
and Mari1yn Miller in Sunny;
Jacks great performance in Sons
OGunS"; Eddie Cantor in kid
Boots; Fred Stone in "Chin
Chin" There were many others
too. including the memorable
lightning, and ''Li1iom."
FUN-When we played Des
Moines with the Greenwich Follies
in 1928, the whole company
gathered in one little. restaurant
for . late supper after the per
Torrance. There was only one
waiter. Ted Lewis and I put on
aprons and helped him wait on
the trade, as a gag. Townspeople
passing quickly discovered what
was going ON and soon the room
was packed with customers. Ted
and ! stayed with it-but We Ger
tainly earned our supper.
VAUDEVILLE-In the sum-
Iner Of 1906 I appeared IN an
acrObatic act known as the ~Bell
Provost TriO," at Brighton
Beach. On the same bill were
Victor Moore and Emma Little-
field in sketch called Change
Your Act" He was the same
great comedian then that he Is
now.
And . man named w. c.
Fields, as funny then as he ID
now, was opening the show.
Gosh! I remember how Victor
Moore used to 90 daShing off
to the race track next door as
soon as his act was over.
MORE ''VAUDE"-In 1914 ]
played on vaudeville bills with
Fremont Benton & Co." The
&C.," was a fellow by the name
of Billy Gaxton, who was the
whole act. He's now doing pretty
well on Broadway and in the per
fume business. That's what makes
me smell so sweet. Or do I? Gree
plug BILL
~SATIsFACTION"-Any boy
can understand the thrill I got
when I appeared in Toledo, my
home town, for the first time
with an aerial act: II years old
and Just back from summer
with the circus. I wore those
beautiful plum colored plush
pants and I was sure the neigh
bor kids were green with envy.
We played in BelleView Park,
. beer garden, and we didn't
have very big audiences at the
afternoon performances. One
afternoon 1t rained and only
three youngsters showed up IN
the seats. The manager had
told ms we. would have to go
ON II q single customer was out
side. One Of the kids with the
act went outside and chased the
entire audience Of three away.
But the manager caught him
doing II.
We went On-and played to
empty seats.
BELIEVE IT Or Here's one
for Bob Ripley. They say in
baseball, ''You can't steal first
base" Still, I saw Germany"
Shaefer do it against Cleveland
in 1909. He first stole second
base without drawing a throw
from the catcher as the winning
run was on third base. Then,
on the next bah pitched, ShaefeI
ran back to first and was given
credit for two stolen bases.
The ball was thrown to first
base and Sl1aefer was tagged out
there but the umpire called him
safe because the rules at that
time only said: ga base runner
can be tagged out when he is