The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-08-13
NOT IN THE SCRIPT

authentic incidents in the life oi Texas Guinan. I gave freely and at great length in response. I have now seen "Incendiary Blonde, which is supposed to be based on her life. It isn't bad picture. But Is isn't good Guinan.
 Tex was hardly incendiary, and wasn't even blonde by nature. The only thre men knew in her life were-first, a quiet New England artist; second, sedate California writer, and third, late in her life, Sbookkeeper no less, who used to beat her up and who disappeared with lot of her assets.
 Texas and I were good friends back in 1913, when she was making two-reel, two-gun westerns. That's when she acquired the Texas" handle. Her name was Mamie. She had a little house near Hollywood with Lottie Pickford and Mabel Normand. Lew Cody, Paul Arm- strong and I would drive out there and play stud poker. Texas came east to join a musical show. Abe Erlanger, lord of the legit, went soft for a little pugnose in the chorus and took Texas song away and gave It to the youngster. To make it worse, he wanted Texas to support her with obligato. I stood on the stage of the Illinois theater, Chi cago, when Tex told Erlanger off ln the presence of the entiret roupe.
 She was fired instanter and barred from etvery branch of thea tricals except vaudeville. I wrote her an act with four people and horse. At the climax Tex leaped on the horse through the window and saved the post office from be- Ing robbed. Her name wasn't good enough for the big time, and we played the Loew circuit. Transpor- tation ate up most of the salary. . So Tex got job as a hostess in the Beaux Arts. opposite Bryantu Park, high up by elevator, sort of , Summing spot after the uptown speaks were emptied. There her per- sonality caught on.
 Larry Fay, the sentimental gang Eter had gone mad over a lovely little ingenue whose name I shall not mention because it might em- barrass her and it wasn't her fault. Larry pestered her until she ran away to Florida and took a night club engagement. This gave Larry big idea, which made Texas Guinan, quite inadvertently.
 The Friars Club, about to open its own building, was moving out of its temporary quarters on 45th street near 9th avenue. Fay leased the building for five years. His plan was to set up a magnificent club which he thought would lure the gzirl back If he offered her star billing and a big salary. He hired Tex as m. C.. with a hevay guaran- tee. He caleld it the Fl Fey Club so it could be identified with him and still not carry his name, which was on record where it wouldn't help. He began frantically tele- phoning the girl in Florida. She turned him down and after the first call refused to answer. So here he was, stuck with a five-year lease on 2 five-story building and a con- tract with Guinan.
 Here comes the most interesting incident. which has never been truly told and which has been un- truly told and whcih has been un- truly told for years everywhere:
 As each show went on, Larry would stand in the extreme rear, where 1t was dark and where he always in plain blue serge suit, white silk shirt and black windsor tic was inconSpicuous. AS Texas would mount her chair that was how she worked) she would look across the room at him. And, thinking of the lease, her pay, the flop of his romantic objective, she would cast 8 glanche right over the heads of the audience and call out-to him Hello, sucker!"
 Through some phenomenal hu- man quirk, every other sucker though 1t was addressed to him. And, as strangely, every man liked 1t. It became her trademark. Long after Larry pasesd out of her picture, she still featured 1t.
 Texas played to a strange con- glomeration-Wall Street, the world of art and letters, New York's usual concentration of out-of- town buyers, plus never-failing underwriters. These were all playing guests. There was very little passed out on the cuff in any of her deadfalls. There were very few beefs about atrocious- Iy phoney champagne at $25 a tottle, and some of the bootleggers who made her scotch and gin at perhaps $1 quart came to her Hives and paid $15 quart for their | own hogwash.
 There was something in that | Hello, sucker!" which softened up | a man and made him what she | called him. She always had a flock | of lovely young girls, but no cus- toner ever got closer to them than | seeing them on the floor. It was no place to pick up a babe. Texas watched over the kids like Diana guarded the doves on Olympus. Many contented matron, perhaps now turning 40, may remember what a demon chaperone she was.
 don't believe she ever was rich. She lived in a little flat on Eighth Street, which looked like Chinese furniture store, where she had one servant. She certainly left no great sum. She lost buck ctful in the stock market and had to hook her 'ice," in which she had taken considerable pride. She always had unsavory partners and,
 
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