Evening star., 1938-09-18

IN nlmS. ne CrdZler, the better. lie IS
Hugh Herbert whose agitated cry of frustra-
ton - WOO WOO! - might we'll become the
watchword of the nation.
For instance, in the middle of the floor of
his home in California is huge oblong con-
crete pool for fish!
Hugh Herbert's hands flutter nervously
when you pin him down about that pool.
Its not just for plain everyday fish,, he
insists. Goldfish, you know, goldfish" And
he titters his familiar WOO WOO!
Mrs. Herbert, who used to be the comics
partner in vaudeville and who has been mar
ried to Hugh for twenty-five years. cuts into
the conversation. TT really very nice - and
different!
Different - that s it different, chuckles
Herbert.
Herbert bought the ten-acre place with the
intention of farming it. Ask him if he has
farm and -
Had - had" he interrupts That is, you
know. l still have the place but not the
animals. l was going to have everything
everything. Bought turkeys, chickens, pigs
goats, COWS. everything. was going to beat
that thing - you know - the depression.
Make my own butter drink my own milk Sit
back. you know. and laugh at conditions. Let
studios close down. Who'd care? Woo-woo!"
But there was no real feeling to this last
woo-woo.
You see." the giddy comic goes on, Il
couldn't stand the cruelty of it ALL Revolving
- revolving. couldn't kill the chickens and
the turkeys and things.
But that wasn't the worst of it." The
Herbert hands f1utter hopelessly. 1T cost
Sl75 month for farmer who couldn't keep
order in the mess. My feed bills ran to SIS a
month. Think of it, think of it. My butter
was costing me five dollars pound When we
ate a turkey - and could put no heart in
eating bird knew intimately - it set me
back fifty bucks. couldn't stand it. couldn't
stand it. So got rid of everything"
You know Herbert for his flibberty-gibbet
roles on the screen Remember him in Sing
Me Love Song" when he played three parts,
a kleptomaniac, his daffy brother and his
even dafier father That's his favorite film.
Herbert wasn't always comic. He first was
film writer and director. But more of that
in moment.
Herbert was born in Binghamton. N. Y, in
1888. His father was a contractor. Business
was bad the Herberts moved to New York.
Hugh worked as tailor's boy, newsboy. a
messenger. Finally he achieved the post of
usher and assistant property man at Proctor's
l25th Street Theater in Harlem.
Il got to know everybody" he sighs. I'D
seat people just right, and they appreciated
it. That helped later when they let me play
bits. remember my first appearance. 1t was
in the old melodrama Blue Jeans Maybe
you saw it. Saw it. that's good. Saw it!
I'm the big scene the villain tied the hero
to buzz saw - and the saw was real. First
they showed it cutting a genuine board. Buzz,
buzz! Real sawdust. too. Then when the hero
was tied to it and the saw came right up to
his head, you can imagine the shrieks from the
audience But the rescuers always got there
before we had two-part hero.
MY debut was as boy who worked in the
sawmill. You can guess how my friends
cheered my entrance had to take bows as
picked up boards. That taste of applause made
me an actor You never get over applause.
never get over it, Gets in your blood, your
ears. or something" And Herbert chuckles
his familiar WOO WOO! He is happy again.
From that moment on. Herbert worked as
an actor There was brief interlude as con-
crete inspector - swell training for Holly
wood" says the comic - but. for the most