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Show KEATON'S LAUGH IS SELDOM 1 ; HEARD M ' 1 .. . m-MAvvocn. cr. ah .t rave heard -aeen -the rarest sound -ak In thla vale or glycerin teara: The froaen face of Buster Iteaton cracking with laughter: ft phenomenon phe-nomenon no movls audtetu. haa aver beheld! What made tha "mirthless comedian" come-dian" laugh la worth recording, because be-cause It provldea a peep behind those drapes of solemnity where the born clown Invariably kidea hla myaterloua nature. fcven off atage. Boater U almoat giggle proof. With a look of unutterable woe ha waa diapatching a fried chicken. Immune to the sipping- wlae-cracae of hi aiudlo table matea. The talk skittered back to pr movie daya when Buater. hla father, Joaeph Kaatoa, and hla mother were known to ev-ry American vaudeville atage eke"fwe7 f etew "ajeertoeafc'"- Vkepen waa a elap-atlck act, probably the rougheat aver on the boar da. wlthi Buater on the receiving and of as oat I of tha aiapa. a a Suddenly Buater ahook aa with , an ague. I thought he waa chok- Ipg on a drum atlck. A quick anort-ttia anort-ttia cackle buret forth, racking hia thin frame. But hia brooding ayea never loat their color. "I waa thinking." ha said alowly. "how 1 got back at my dad when ha had a lapaa of memory.. , "You know we often grot aerlooa In our alap-etlcklng. aa I began to grow up. If I had disobeyed or angered dad he'd take It out on ma on thettage. Manv a alap which the audience thought Jeet had the i ating of truth behind It, and my father had a powerful hand. "Naturally, having tha opportunity of the act. I uaed occaelonally to hit back, with all my might. The Old Man never Whipped ma off tage, but ha did It many time a. when ha thought I deaerved It, before be-fore ihe curtains In tbegulae of 'bualneaa.' a ,a a "One day ha gave ma a terrible walloping, all with the eemblance of Jat. after he'd dlacovared- ma emoklng my flrat clgaret. "Next day It waa my turn to apank him with a hard broom alt In the act. of courae. For thla he fortified himself with a heavy pad. "Well yhan the time arrived 1 let go wfth all my - might. The broom amacked hi in with an unuau-ally unuau-ally loud report, and I aaw dad atralghte up with a look of aaton-lahment. aaton-lahment. "'Ureat guna, he -aald quite loul, loud. 'I forgot tha pad!' And while the houee howled, I let him have U again all In the act. of courae." Buater caxkled again In eharp creacendo. then fell moodily upon : hla chtvken once mora. 4 I e e e From the age, of 4 ta IV Buater Kaatoa lit waa a- stage battle an J a march, on the day ha waa born hla fathef carried him proudly -out an the ataga. From Infancy t manhood ha trouoed In "the roughest rough-est act In vaudeville." aa ha ya In wry retrospect, but with full ra-rpect ra-rpect for hla parent a, now living In Hollywood. The playtime f the average boy he never had. and alap-atlcking alap-atlcking In thoee daya waa not a I matter to engender a Jovial spirit. "I never learned to laugh," he ' aaya, "and now 1 find I can ba hap-I hap-I py without it. Ona thing, however, alwaya prlea a grin from hie aad phis putting out the beat runner of aa opposing ball team when the dally game gta hot In the Schenck movie lot. Bua-j Bua-j ter'a paaalon la baaeball. He'd ; rather awat tha horaehlde than ; clown for tha tnovlea, a predilection l which often wrapt tha morale of hla picture aaaoclatea. When ha can't Indulge thla relaxation relax-ation ha conaolea hlmaelf by playing play-ing grand opera on the ukulele to ! hie wife, Natalie Talmadge, aad lit - tla Buster the Second. |