The Washington times., 1936-03-02


woman.
AS for my Stepmother, my
whole life might have been
changed if she had been a diff
ferent woman. I was so young
when she married my father and
I was the only child. Naturally, we
were together a great deal and any
good qualities I might possess, and
any ideas or ideals that have been
moulded in my life. I owe to her.
My early boyhood was spent on
the shores of Conneaut Lake, on
my mothers peoples farm in
Pennsylvania. No other houses
were near it and no other boys of
my age lived in the neighborhood.
I had a big woolly dog named
SHARP" to play with in the front
yard, and when Sharp tired of
playing with me, rode my hobby
horse hitched to the dining room
table. And on Sundays my grand
father would hitch up the mare to
the surrey and we would drive off
to church.
After my father remarked,
1 went back to HOpedale, Ohio,
with him and my new mother. 1t
lOomed before me as a great city,
although the population was
only 500. But had playmates
for the first time. 1 was not
quite old enough to go to school,
but / must have yearned for
higher education. I hung around
the old town SchOOlhOuse and
borrowed crayOnS from the
teacher. I amused myself max
ing crude drawings at home, and
1 always returned the borrowed
crayOns. Then I began my
SchOoldays. 1 loved the outdoors,
probably because I was raised in
the country, and thought of
myself as a pretty regular fel-
ler." We swan on Saturday
afternoons in the pools formed
by old coal mine excavations
around HOpedale, and, being a
little larger for my age, I was
always able to take care of my
self in the swimmin' hole argu-
mentS. 1 liked to fight, but 1
couldn't kill animals. 1 would
go trapping with the other kids,
but when we visited the traps
always stayed in the back
ground.
MY adolescence in Hopedale
must have been somewhat trying
on my friends. I was growing
bigger and becoming more shy
every day. BY some miracle I got
through two years of high school,
which were memorable years to
me. I liked baseball and football
and captained the school teams.
Also, I footed the horn in the
school band. While I was in high
school I was bitten by the first
urge for the stage. I frequently
visited Steubenville, about 16 miles
away, picking up odd jobs, mainly
at the towns theater, whose bright
lights and atmosphere seemed to
fascinate me. After two years in
high school, my education came
to an end. My father bought a
farm near Akron, and I had to
quit school to work on the farm.
Yet I did not want to be a farmer.
From my five-year-old- borrowed
crayon days I had wanted to be
an architect. I was 16 years old
at the time.
A year later I left the farm
and went to seek my fortune in
Akron. 1t was the largest city
/ had ever seen and it be-
wildered me. Somehow man.
aged to land a job as a time
keeper in a rubber factory. By
this time / had decided to be-
come a doctor instead of an
architect, and I enrolled in the
pre-medic class Of the University
Of Akron night school. / at
tended night school five nights
q week and the sixth was my
night out. On one of these sixth
nights, was in a little Akron
restaurant. A stock company
was in town and / was going to
see the show that night. AS I
was eating, two of the shows
actors came in. One was the
leading man and the other was
the villain, and they sat at my
table. I edged into their con-
versatiOn and they finally in
vited me to see the play from
backstage. 1t opened up a new
world for me. Not only did I
see the play from backStage, but
i got the job as calIbOy in the
theater, without salary, working
in the rubber factory during the
day and at the theater at night.
That's why I'm not a doctor
today.
I decided to become an actor
I Joined a small rep show to try
it out. The first lines ever
spoke on a stage were Good eve
ming, Madam" was a butler
but a few weeks later I learned
the first bitter lesson "the show
must go on" I was in the show
when I first received the wore
my second mother was dead
With his son on the road as ar
actor and his wife in the grave
my father could not live amid the
memories of the lonesome farm
He sold it and went into the