Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-10-06
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New York, Oct. 6.-POrtrait of n
New Yorker: He is sixty-eight and
has been on the stage for fifty years.
Roles are infrequent now. AS mat
ter of fact he has been resting" for
the last four years, since he had a.
small part in a play which lasted six
weeks.
The mystery is how he manages to
live, with no visible means of sup
port. Only an actor could do it. No
matter how many friends he has
touched for fives and tens over pc
Rod of years and no matter if his
percentage of repayments is virtually
zero, he can always find the source
of one more five or ten or even
twenty.
So he doesn't starve. Indeed, he
lives pretty well, considering. He has
a room at one of the theatrical clubs
and the board of governors is not in
sistent about arrears. After all he did
pay dues for good many years
longer than many of the young ships
who are rising now will be behind
footlights in their whole lives.
He is a spry old gentleman, the life
of the party. His collection of jingles
and limericks printable and other
wise, is huge and he can take the
floor even at gathering of actors
where everybody wants to show off
at the same time and hold attention
and get laughs. People like to have
him around.
His greatest feat was the annexa-
ton, as patroness, of a Park Avenue
matron who thought he was a scream
and had him at the house and the
country place morning noon and night
to entertain herself and her guests.
This lasted for nine years, during
which he only had two parts on
Broadway totalling fourteen weeks
| and there was plenty of time He
i used to borrow twenty-five dollars
every Saturday from the rich lady.
He did it with such regularity that
| at last new social secretary was
hired, who got the idea that the old
actor was on some sort of salary;
after that he got the twenty-five each
| week without even having to ask for
| 1t.
This fine friendship broke up thro-
ugh a misunderstanding. The aged
actor, it seems tried to sell his pro-
tector's country place in an involved
deal which would have shown a nice
profit for him and perhaps made fur
| Their dependence on any one unneces-
sary.
| When he meets you on the street he
always knows, if you are an actor,
what your last part was and is pre-
pared to praise it. If you are writer
! he knows where your work is APP
pearing and is ready with some warm
| ing comment. If you are a business
| man he asks your advice about the
| investment of an inheritance he is ex-
1 pecting from England. Before you
part company you are minus any sum
up to twenty dollans and you feel
that he was doing you a favor to take
| it. 81
He has had a good life. He hasn't
| had a wife for so many years that he
| is regarded ~ most people as life
! long bachelor. On his good days, he
| looks twenty years younger than he
/ is. He is of course, type: chiseler
and petty embezzler. Yet he is con-
| science-free and conscious of no
! wrongdoing. He simply coasts along
! thu ough life and the world pays to
! have him around.
! "These youngsters have no honor"
! he will tell you. "They borrow your
money and drink your liquor and seem
! to think what you have grows on
trees. No, sir, I'll take the actors of
the old school,"