Evening star., 1941-07-27

fiippant treatment Of his acting
wounds him grievously and that
his own f1ippancy is an act to hide
his distress.
Grouse himself likes 10 say that
he quit the stage at the height OF
his career. That was in 1928 When
he had eight lines to speak IN
Gentlemen of the Press" and two
lines in the movie version. He says
it iestingly, but TO any one VINO
knows him truly we'll there's a
breaking heart behind the voice for
Grouse put in long years training
for the theater before he appeared
in Gentlemen of the Press"
If any of the girls of the old
Mutual burlesque wheel who used
to play the Olympic Theater in East
Fourteenth street near Third
avenue still survive - they were
pretty we'll along in years in 1924
and 1925-they may be interested
to know that Grouse used to study
their thespian qualities nearly every
Tuesday night. He used to sit In
the 18th or 14th row of the orchestra
Just beyond reach of the runway
which Variety. always discerning,
had tagged "varicose lane.
There was nothing first rate about
the Mutual wheel, and VarietV's
| critic. covering an opening. liked to
| play variations on the theme; The
/ girls looked as if they had walked
! from their last stand" The theater
/ itself, surviving from the past CEN
turv as a taWdrv monument 10
/ Tony Pastor and to Lillian Russell,
who made her debut there was
wholly on the rowdy side though
the girls IN the strip tease acts
never got down to anything more
alluring than white one-plece
bathing suit.
There TO Study.
The old Olympic has long since
vanished. razed by irreverent owners
whose hand might have been STAYED
had they known that one day the
name of Grouse would be added 10
| that of Tony Pastor and Lillian
Russell to give new luster to the
memory of the building.
While the Broadway theater. as
seems implicit. owes great deal
TO the old Olympic for Grouse S
training. the Olympic MANAGEMENT
at the time probably never realized
the service it was doing the Nation.
/ 1t is even unlikely that any one in
those Tuesday night audiences ever
guessed that Grouse was there 10
study acting and that those bright
brown eyes. so alert to every muscu-
lar movement. were merely the
windows of soul interested in the
drama.
Tuesday night was the fixed night
because the Tuesday night perform
ance was followed by amateur night
This was the big opportunity for the
boys and girls. old and young. OF
Third avenue and points nearby
The good ones were applauded: the
bad ones and among the singers
this meant those with better voice,
than the grooming Vallees and Cros.
bys and Lombardos today were
given the hook, beaten off the stage
with bladders or half-smothered un-
der several hundred battered derbies
released from the flies overhead
1t took courage TO go up there ano
sing or dance and even the lure OF
S. prize wasn't always strong
enough. Certainly it wasn't with
Grouse.
In those DAYS on the New York
Evening Post there was a COPY BOY
named Nick. and Nick was a great
Charleston dancer. Grouse spent g
good deal of his time every Wednes-
day morning urging Nick to enter
the amateur contest. On the surface
Crouse's interest in Nick appeared
to be purely paternalistic. Now that
he has shown himself as actor and
producer it is evident that he either
was planning secretly to become a
| producer and was sizing up Nick as
the nucleus of a show. or that. he
wished to learn acting from Nick.
Nick declined TO dance at the
Olympic for fear of hurting his
Charleston reputation in Brooklyn,
where he resided. Grouse. always
the consummate actor, hid his disap-
polntment. Grouse. the producer,
might be frustrated temporarily as
Grouse. the swimmer. had been frus-
trated in Missouri when he emerged
from dive on the underside of a
raft and nearly drowned. But
Grouse, the actor, was a determined
man.
1t started first as a mere whisper
a hint which met scornful glances
and angry words. Grouse. the rumor
went. was going to become an actor
|