Show 5 st ME 0 V N cl MEN W do WT I 1 0 t 13 r I 1 was about to suggest mr crane that that reminds me of a little inter change of courtesies which took place between barry sullivan the great anglish actor and manager buckley of the baldwin theater san francisco on the opening of thai that house by su SW livans company I 1 was member ot of the company and was tan landing ding on the stage the afternoon before the open ing when the dialogue between the two occurred buckley was a pom porn I 1 ous and conceited mar and sullivan took a great dislike to him from the start this said buckley looking around the beautiful house and speak ing if IR a most patronizing manner thia this is the third theater I 1 have opened then he stopped and looked at gallivan lal livan to see what effect the an he renews his thank thanks no lio would have on him but sullivan looked him straight in the eyes indeed sir said sullivan and bow how many have aou ou closed mr crane will you tell you about jimmy powers why I 1 called on jimmy one after noon voon and asked h in to go over town with me to a rehearsal or something can cant t said jimmy I 1 im in sorry but I 1 ve got to take a singing lesson this afternoon after noor what with jimmye I 1 asked and he didn dian t speak to me for six months now mr crane about well in the old days of the hooley stock company of which I 1 was a mem ter there was a oung young actor came along whose stage name was william H wilding he had a good commer cial training before he started in nith ith us to become an actor and sometimes be lie used to ask m for advice he played the court clerk in the trial scene ID in the Merch merchant tnt of venice and that sorte of mall parts I 1 told him often I 1 thought him foolish to give up b iciness in which he had a lair fair start for such an uncertain thing as the career of an actor to be frank with you I 1 said to him one night I 1 don t think you are fitted to become i t great actor you seem to lad lael the dr dramatic matic instinct and without it ou wont go tar far my candid advice to you Is to go back into business and tick to it the next day wilding went out and hustled for a job in a store he lie got a clerkship which paid h in 15 a week he ile had been getting fa 05 in the stock company but he gave that up lip at once and went into vulgar trade when he left the stage he gave up also his stage name ot of will am 11 wilding and took his own name ot of john K the other day I 1 stopped over in toledo 0 for a few hours and went up to call on he is now the owner of the largest and most sue clothing and furnishing store in lit toledo and one of the largest in the state the name of Is well known in trade circles and whenever I 1 see the man I 1 put out of the theatrical business he renews his thanks tor for rny my part in the change which he has never regretted since be lie made it mr lir crane david that bat was the man I 1 helped to get cut of the show business frank francis wilson 1 13 one whom I 1 ad to stick to it and to leave black face for something more legitimate W 11 drop into rob s dressing room for a minute when I 1 first met wilson he was play log ing in a black face sketch called wash day with his partner the firm being cronin wilson but even then frank was an ener betic and ambitious man in his leisure time when most actors would have been idling or worse orse he was studying french german and the law he ile ard I 1 had a good many talks and I 1 advised him to try legitimate comedy parts so he gave up 75 a week in negro minstrelsy and took a post I 1 on with the chesnut Cheat Chet nut street theater in philadelphia to play second corn edy parts in the stock com company patty at YZ a week then mccall came along nd put him into light opera where he hl has been ever since well heres here s a letter from an iowa man who would like to know if I 1 t love to be playing shake two again with stuart robson I 1 should think not why all the time that I 1 was on the stage I 1 was bound foot hand and tongue if robson had a cold in bis his head I 1 had to have a cold in mine if robson had a felon on his little finger 0 ot his right hand it was necessary for me to ng rig up one it if he got the rheu matisin and had to wrap up bis his knee I ii U i a red flannel bandage I 1 had to do the same it a as dreadful I 1 had to think of robson s rheumatism of shakespeare and of a hundred other things all the time sometimes id I 1 d get all madeep made tip and ready to go then I 1 d drop into rob robs s room for a minute end observe that he had put a little more red paint than usual on his cheeks and nose then I 1 had to hurry back and do tae the same thing it was i i dreadful experience yes harum seem to be doing fine iv again this bear ear some of the critics say it Is likely to be a second rip van winkle I 1 t object to that but I 1 have produced more new plays than any actor now on the stage get ting a good play Is harder every year I 1 some time ago a well known dra read me a scenario that told a beautiful story it was just what I 1 wanted I 1 accepted it and ordered the flay paying him 2 as advance money A month later he brought me around the first act to read it was based on an entirely different scenario and I 1 told him so why this isn t on the lines of the scenario you showed me I 1 said no I 1 know it be he said but it a a great deal better I 1 didn dian t like it at all A week later ne called again this time he wanted to borrow 50 1 I let him have it of course and be he left a receipt for it this is the way the receipt read as I 1 discovered after he had left received of W H crane 50 to be repaid out of the first royalties received on the pla I 1 am writing for him that s the last I 1 have ever heard it om orn him I 1 s impose he simply need ed the 2 in his business mr crane cranes s dresser handed him a realistic rubber mole chich he pro MR I 1 th s is the th rd theater I 1 have opened ceedee to paste on to the grizzled and wrinkled cheek of david harum the last boy I 1 had Is in state states s prison now stole 1800 and ran away but that didn dian t hurt so much as what I 1 found out afterward it seems that the boy had been spend tag ing my money and arid my clothes and raising merry cain in halt the towns we visited arent you afraid that crane cranell 11 find you outa some one asked him no he said you can cant t fool mrs crane but crane why crane cranes s easy and that really did hurt 11 M 11 in chicago ri bune |