Show The Great Ladies of the Stage Stag Gertrude Lawrences Lawrence's Talents Help England Editors Editor's note Gentle Ortle Lawrence e got h her r start on the talle ta e In h her r name nails fot England but she he reached stardom In thle country and her greatest luc successes elsel have ha been achieved ed h here re By VESTA KELLING NEW YORK AP AP- Special News Service Surely Service Surely Gertrude Lawrence Lawrence Lawrence Law Law- rence has made all her hel wish wish- wishful fulfillment fulfillment fulfillment ful ful- dreams come true Certainly being an actress ss she fears neither big crowds and loud noises nor nor great heights even though she is being psyched six nights and two matinees weekly before Manhattan audiences these da days s 's In her current Broadway hit Lady in the Dark Maladjustment was in evidence it itis is is true when I called on Miss Lawrence in her ten eight-by-ten dressing room the other afternoon after alter the matinee but it was merely merely merely mere mere- ly a matter of lack of space there was not a a. sign of a repression not nota a complex in sight To give you a rough idea among those present were six unidentified friends A delegation from the Bundles for Britain publicity department department department de de- de- de Calm Carrie Wallace Miss Lawrences Lawrence's negro maid who worked for Marilyn Miller for 12 years k Wires and letters from celebrities pinned around the dressing table mirror and on all available wall space Flowers Miss Lawrences Lawrence's press agent A tray of up make-up shoved under the closet drapes A huge magnifying magnifying magnifying mag mag- up make-up mirror as conspicuous conspicuous conspicuous con con- as an air raid searchlight searchlight search search- light A theater manager Autographed Autographed- pictures of Charlie Chaplin Ethel Barrymore Mary Pickford rd Gloria Swanson and scores of other celebrities many of which were were hung so near the ceiling you could not make out autographs or faces Miss Lawrence was utterly cheerful Traffic was tied up with a steady pressure from people outside the open door Miss Lawrence gave two Interviews interviews interviews inter Inter- views simultaneously but it was plain that England was never far from her mindI mind I r am going to London in June she told everyone happily Yes Liza her present role is isone isone isone one of my favorite parts Can you fancy though marrying a desk because someone told you at three that you were plain Im I'm going to fly Iy across on the clipper clip clip- per perNo No Ive I've never known a psychia psychiatrist psychiatrist chia trist h Im I'm going to visit all my entertainment units when Im I'm home Miss Lawrence has been raising money and talent to divert the British army She also helped move 54 children from the British actors' actors orphanage to the United States My telegrams and letters Out come the pins Personal messages messages messages mes mes- sages from folks like Luise Rainer Orson Welles Ginger Rogers and psychiatrists are thrust Into your hands Carrie reminds her mistress about a six o'clock appointment with the doctor not a psychia psychia- trist It is ten after Miss Law Law- I rence darts behina a curtain in her pale blue flannel flannel dres dressing dresing gown emerges emerges in a dress dress flings a fur coat over over her shoulders shoulders' and nd sweeps ort ors carrying six or so so persons persons persons per per- sons in the room In her wake This slim English actress with the he tip-tilted tip nose lived at a hospital the he first few weeks after Lady Ladyn in n the Dark opened the first night having been delayed on account account account ac ac- ac- ac count of her illness The hospital staff took on the task ask of cutting her off from the he outside world except for a dozen or so intimate friends the most pressing of her war projects and radio appearances and of course eight two-and-a-half two hour performances weekly Miss Lawrence is an able tactician tactician tactician tac tac- in the lifelong battle she wages between time and the numerous numerous numerous nu nu- nu- nu things she wants to do A woman reporter who once interviewed interviewed interviewed in in- her never got over one second-saving second device she employs The scene A boudoir lushly luxurious A bath filled with foaming pink bubble soap awaited On the wash bowl rested ready for use a tooth brush with an inch of paste squeezed on it by a maid The lady really is a whirlwind At 42 she sings emotes and does high kicks in Lady in m the Dark sh She has a daughter Pamela 22 I ia i- i a aF 4 2 Y s y yI I l F f 21 d i t w L i 1 w 7 J.- J. M V I Gertrude Gertrude Laren Lawrence At 42 she sings emotes and does high kicks I in Lady in the Dark and and- and anda a new husband Theatrical Producer Richard Stoddard Aldrich Aldrich Al- Al 38 whom she married one midnight last year ear when she was was' playing in a summer theater At 10 10 Gertrude Lawrence made her debut in London in a pantomime pantomime pantomime panto panto- mime for children Three ye years rs later she met the only person who today contends that she should be psyched Noel Coward then a small boy He later chronicled the beginnings beginnings begin begin- of their long friendship with these words She gave me an orange and told me a few mildly dirty stories and I loved her from then onwards Miss Lawrence suffered from an intense phobia against theatrical managers as a child actress according according according ac ac- ac- ac cording to Coward which she must have since corrected because she married one Once understudy for Beatrice Lillie Miss Miss' Lawrence and Miss Lillie combined with Coward and the three became almost as Indissoluble indissoluble indissoluble indis Indis- soluble a theatrical group as Alfred Alfred Alfred Al Al- fred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne or Katharine Cornell and Guthrie Mc- Mc Clintic With Coward the two British actresses were first starred on Broadway in m Andre Carlots Carlot's revue in 1924 But now at the beginning of this her fourth decade in the theater theater theater the the- ater Miss Lawrence is the love of those hard-bitten hard men about Manhattan the drama critics You may find her plays panned but not Gertie Blase as are the gentlemen who sometimes break the hearts that beat behind the footlights they know an actress when they see one |