Show A GREEN OLD AGE Actresses Who Have Been Playing Play-ing Over Fifty Years THEY TAKE OLD WOMEN PARTS Two Generations Ago Tiiey Were Charming Juliets Virginias and Kosaliuds Mrs Baker Mrs Drew and Mrs Gilbert 1 Therefore take with thee my most grievous curseS curse-S Bloody thou art bloody will bo thy end Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend Alter delivering this terrible curse upon her son the Duchess of York leaves the stage and is seen no more in the evenings representation representa-tion of Richard III The bill of the play in Mr Thomas Keenes production of the tragedy contains this line Duchess of York Mrs Baker The audience audi-ence sees a majestic and effective woman in the part it is thrilled by the intensity and force with which tho lines quoted above are delivered and leaves when the curtain drops on the death of the terrible and relentless hunchback without knowing that it has witnessed something worth remembering A wholly apart from the impressions of the performance A per-formance as a whole How much added pleasure would have come had those present been awaro of the fact that tho lady playing i the Duchess of York so well in point of continuous con-tinuous service if not in Actual years is the oldest actress on the American stage one uliose career behind tho footlights extends over a period of nearly three decades What associations must cluster about a life of such prolonged pro-longed and uninterrupted uninter-rupted activityand what memories muse crowd upon the brain of the venerable woman Whothrough the in 4 terval from charm 4 ing youth to revered re-vered old age has A played many parts In 183S and there 3a b 4 abouts she was one of the noted Juliets and Virginias the MRS sing A nAKER boards and played thoto characters in support of Forrest and Juuius Brutus Booth while her first acquaintance i ac-quaintance with Richard III was as the littlo Duke of York Now she is theDuchess To be explicit Mrs Sarah A Baker is now 73 years of age and has been an actress for considerably more than half a century Long ago her father Charles S Porter was the manager of the Pittsburg theatre and her associations from childhood have been those of the stage As leading lady of Philadelphia and New York stock companies she has in days that are gone supported such famous stars as Edwin Forrest the elder A Booth Edwin Adams E L Davenport Lawrence Barrett Edwin Booth Joseph Jefferson Jef-ferson W J Florence the elder Sothern and Stuart Robbou playing an infinite variety va-riety of characters and making her mark as an exponent of legitimate drama When 34 years old she married but her husbands creditable career as an actor was cut short by death Mr Baker being killed at Atlanta Ga while serving as an officer in Shermans nrmy In 1837 Mrs Baker completed her fiftieth year as an actress and the event was made the occasion of a notable commemoration It was at the Masonic Temple theatre in Louisville Louis-ville Ky Richard III had just died but the curtain did not go down Instead the audience audi-ence was requested to remain Mrs Baker still dressed as the Duchess was led to the center of the stage and given a seat Then with a diamond ring and various floral tributes trib-utes the following address was handed her by Mr Keene To our Dear Professional Mother Mrs Sarah A Baker on the SemiCentennial of Her Debut on tho Stage We the members of Mr Keenes compnny deem it to IMS our happy privilege and respectful duty to charge this day with a token of dear re nieiabrsnce of you not less as an actress than asa as-a cherished friend as a mother whose ministering hand has ever been tenderly tendered whenever occasion demanded its care The value of the offering Is as nothing the love which accompanies It is all and we ask you to take this to your heart that this love will co with you If wherever you may be unbroken like the olden f circle that ia honored by the band that wears it Hot only we but all thoso who know you in 7 j your private and professional lIfeand where in our country are you unknown professionally all < lettgut In doing reverence to the purity of your life and the gentleness of your nature Tho fifty years of your professional career almost al-most marks the developed history of tbo American Ameri-can stage With Ute Zr tt Il greatest of our stage heroes and heroines gI ii 1b you have associated 1 Vrr Stage memories are I I naturally cherished IW by you and among them the last but not the least worthy of remembrance let us hope we ask you to 0 keep green the memory i mem-ory of this night In tbe after time as J fjj r j our ej es rest on tbis 43e ct little gem on your uiss PORTER AS VIRGIMA finger os it sparkles brilliant in the sunlight know that our respect and love for yon suffer no dimness in the estrangement es-trangement of distance or time I With the profoundest respect and most loving duty to command madame and mother wo are most affectionately yours Then follow the signatures of all the members mem-bers of the company When asked recently by the writer if there were any particular incidents of her professional profes-sional career which she recalled Mrs Baker replied Only these I have never been ill a day in my life and I have never attempted to star Two other names naturally occur to tho reader as deserving mention in the Fame cat gory with Mrs Bakers by reason of long md honorable service on the stage They are those of Mrs John Drew and Mrs Gilbert Mrs John Drew is English by birth and Was 73 years of age the 10th of last January I Her maiden name was Lane She made her American debut in 1827 at tho Walnut Street theatre in ZJ Philadelphia as tho G I Duke of York in 0 Richard III 1 with the elder tb Booth Her first > r New York appearance appear-ance was at the Bowery in 1828 Binging wns one of r her great accomplishments X I plishments and the l J l tntire round of I 1 youthful heroines MRS o L GILBERT c teas hers during a 1 period of popularity spent in employment mainly between New York Philadelphia Baltimore Mrs Drew has long been accepted ac-cepted as a most versatile and finished act HBHB Foe later years the impression of her nquieite skill has been chiefly conveyed by bar Mrs Malaprop in Joseph Jeffersons revised re-vised version of The Rivals Her sons and laughter are favorably known to the theatre roinK public Mrs Drew was married to John Drew in 1850 She has made a fine record rec-ord as a manager as well as an actress Whan Mrs G H Gilbert was a maiden > he was a very merry maiden and danced her Way into the hearts of the London John tloa of fifty years ago with ease and grace She developed an aptitude for light comedy before her youth boo pawed and created a reputation as a delineator of character far excelling her earlier one as a delineator of graceful pesos She came to America in ISiS and has been a member of Augustin Dalys stook company ever since her arrival Mrs Gilbert is now in her seventythird year |