The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-08-27
FROM THE CIRCLE TO THE
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 What an lngIorious climax the finale of Oliver Morosco, killed hy a street car, with eight cents ln his pocketl Ollie was my friend. produced my first two plays, s.Eelp Wanted" and "One of Us," both of which opened in his Mor- osco Theater, Los Angeles |. Tn the stock companies which first created these plays were such po- tential stars as Tommy Meighan, Richard Dix, Charlie Ruggles, Dave Butler (who became one of the great film directors), Thurston Hall, Grace Valentine and rising young actor named George Pres- ton Marshall, who later married Morosco's ex-daughter-in-lay, Cor zine Griffith, and who now owns the Washington Red Skins Morosco was the Midas of show business. He put his golden touch on such tremendous successes as The Bird of Paradise" Peg O My Heart" and "'Abie's Irish Rose," as well as dozens of other minor suc- cesses He had his own pie ttlre company, which produced my first three silent movies, before he ever presented a play in New York, he had a theater here named for him; at one time he owned every legitimate theater in the Los An geles area and both the big rival New York combinations-the Shu- berts and Klaw and Erlanger-had to see him before they could play there.
 Woman trouble, bottled cheer and New York get-rich-quick slickers, who induced him to turn his hold lng into a stock-selling promotion, ruined him He was indicted and acquitted But after that hh was never the same daring dazz- ling Morosco The touch of gold had vanished and everything he attempted fell apart He had many friends who tried to help him But he was proud, and no one could do much for him except him. self, and 1t seemed he was no more .. He would walk up the streets where he had been king, his head down, those square shoulders which he had built up as an acrobat in his youth slumped They say he was 69 years old; had known him for 30 of those years, in his heyday and his decline. But the news of his pitiful exit shocked me profoundly He deserved better!
 MOrosc0's misfortunes recall an episode with one of his associates, who was not so lucky, was convict ed in the case and sentenced to the Federal pen .. I had known him since old Chicago days Past midnight, on a blustrey Win ter morning, as I sat alone in the old King Features offices on Colum- bus Circle, banging away at my mill, the night-bell rang =. went down and there, covered with snow, handcuffed to the wrist of 8 U. s. Marshal, was my little old friend. Thus nnanacled, he had been can vAssing his acquaintances to raise $3.OO0, the. amount of his bond <. That's lot of money at that hour Of the night, but I knew one man who would have 1t and who would lend 1t to me woke up Da- vid BelaSco, who was then living at the Gladstone hotel. With his heavy receipts, he always had thousands of dollars in his theater safe. He 'phoned Ben Roeder, his manager, who got out of bed. opened the the ater, opened the safe and gave me 5000 in currency, which I handed to the marshal, who then took off the bracelets.
 My friends lawyer had filed motion to appeal. It was to be heard next morning Assistant U. s. Attorney John M. Harlan phoned to tell me my friend had taken the fence-didn't show up in court, and his own lawyer didn't know where he was So was stuck for the three grand, which ! had to dig up and return to Belesco I made 1t somehow, and as the days went by I grew a1lgrier and angrier ;. Then, one day, my secretary told me an ex- convict wanted to see me. It seems to me the first thing all the ex-cons do when they come out is to try to see me, because I have written 50 many underworld stories, includ- ing the one they all know, '"The Big House. So said o. k, bring him in. He spoke out of the cor aer of his mouth and said, "Your friend - asked me to come in and zee you when he heard I was being sprung and [ was going to New