Show it itI I V Ill n r f 71 i I And How Hove the Famous Comedian Is IsA g Merely a Victim of the Same M i 1 1 t Tragic Fate That Has h I. I f fI w I z Dogged 3 ic jr Since Ancient Times fJ 1 Y r Iv p o h SI t i nY a E k A recent photograph p of Charlie Chaplin that shows show s clearly a the aging effect of the worry and unpleasant notoriety that thaE r s attended a his now settled divorce suit Charlie Chaplin recently WHEN W sighed to the press I must regain my normal mind before acting again again A man who endeavors to tomake tomake tomake make the world laugh must be able to laugh himself he perhaps was not con con- conscious conscious conscious that the unkind fate that has dogged his footsteps for the past six months has been a grim companion to great comedians of all times That whimsical director Fate seems to have ha willed that tragedy and md comedy shall walk hand in in hand with smile smile smile-mak- mak mak- makers ers The laughing mask and the comic garb by b which buffoons hive have tried to prove to the world that life is a comic dream a bubble a jest has Ins all through history co covered cred a heartache Though laughter is is said to be a measure meas meas- measure measure ure of mans man's indifference to pain not only in himself but others a study of the lives of funny men proves that the theve very ve god who bestowed his gifts upon them to make them comedians made them doubly sensitive to suffering the god of pleasantry and deity of all 11 clowns was himself without light light heartedness Chaos was his grand grand- grandfather grandfather father ather Discord Death and the Furies his brethren His antics were to blame Vulcan because he had not placed a win window win win- window window dow in the breast of man Minerva a be be- because because because cause her house being movable able might be subjected to an neigh neigh- neighborhood neighborhood Neptune because the eyes e es of the bull were not nearer the horns and Venus because she made too much noise with her feet Even the planet Saturn from whose name is is derived domed the term m mArt Art which is is applicable to all fun mak mak- makers makers makers ers is is regarded by the astrologists as a melancholy planet with a baleful ence It would seem then that the art of buffoonery did not receive a proper set set- setting setting setting ting from rom the very ery start of things And down through a long pageant that stretches back to the time when hen the ancient Spartan law bw giver gi g er Lycurgus ordered that the image of Laughter be erected and worshiped as a god the garb of Fool Jester Pierrot Harlequin and Comedian has been worn by individuals ind fated to lead tragic lives There is a familiar talc tale which is told i of many a famous famo s clown but which is isI I 1 thought to have c applied to the great French comedian Coquelin who visited famous doctors in order that he lie might diagnose tin tn ailment that had fastened itself upon him Your trouble is simply n a reflection re of your mental attitude pronounced the learned doctor unaware of the identity JU of his patient Forget yourself and your jour our troubles Play Go to see the great Coquelin and laugh bugh To which his patient replied with a n sigh I 1 am the great Coquelin The great greit Grimaldi who has been called the Michael Angelo of Buffoon Buffoonery cry ery was frequently referred to as Grim Grim day all day by those who lived w closest to him and knew the tragedy of his ever eve everyday day life While he was making his debut Q as a clown in in 1810 and rocking English playhouses with laugh laugh- laughter ter by his appearance as a goose who wh affected air air in in displaying ing his tail till in the peacock style st le his frail little mother for or whom he had labored to succeed was slowly wasting away Later when at Covent Garden he cre- cre created the part of Pantaloon and through his ridiculous lowering of the big jaw jaw and comical moving moving moving ing of his cars leaped into un un- undying undying un- un undying dying fame ame his only son in whom he had placed his fondest hopes was breaking his heart by his dishonorable habits and insolent attitude towards his father t f Grimaldi is is said to have havo contributed more things to I Ithe the realm of than 1 1 is 1 is my any other one man lIe He it was wa who first discovered that mimicry and the power of arousing curi curiosity curi- curi curiosity curiosity were two of the surest ave e avenues avenues to laughter His tricks and illusions ate arc still followed but the theman theman theman man who could give to the world so much of foolery and fun has gone down in its annals annals a a lonely and heart broken figure William Buck nuck of Surrey one of ry rythe the deans of English clowns com corn committed committed suicide in in his dressing room b by snuffing into his brain the bismuth of his white makeup The act was the culmination of two years of intense worry and despondency because the little lady in in pink tights who had been his act act- acting acting acting ing partner had disappeared with another clown clow clown n While Whilo the French buffoon was wis at his greatest height the height the season when he was engaged in in his side split side sidesplitting sidesplitting split splitting ting songs accompanied by the cat chorus on the fence and his notable conversation with the oysters oysters oysters-he he laid to rest the only friend he had in in the world This was Laurent his co worker co-worker worker co-worker who represented all there was of love and friendship to the man who ho brought so much happiness to others For years ears before his successful career ended the clown in in the heart of Bc- Bc burau the great Bohemian comedian had died To quote his friends there thero was some mystery in his life of which we never knew but stage offstage he was as pale as the moon mysterious as silence mute as a serpent lean and long as a n pole and bitter Not an especially mirthful picture of the man who has gone down in in the history of the comedy for his hilarious burlesque of Robinson Crusoe When Mother Goose came to America m in IS 1831 11 it brought the mimic mimic- able clown Failing ailing to get the applause Coquelin the great French comedian whose life was filled with tragedy pJ E a 4 k zT n Harry Lauder who sang sang his funny Scotch songs to the troops in France when heartbroken over the death of his only son killed in action which was as his due one night he broke down upon the stage and in a storm of weeping which forever ended his career care r ras as a comedian confessed that the loss of at athis his wife five years jears ears before had left his laughter hollow II III I T. T T Barnum that genius of the Big Dig Top rep has told in his memoirs many miny in incidents in- in incidents incidents of the pathos in m the lives of over their ripple of quips and nonsense There was Langley who trained up his five children for the trapeze only to see sec I his youngest son fall all and sustain a broken back For fifteen years ears the clown nightly put forth his foolery always with the vision vision before belore him of him of the pinched suffering face of f the boy who lived on a hopeless cripple Nor have twentieth century buffoons seemed to be able to to get rid of or the grim fate that apparently haunts the footsteps of all great fun fun iun makers Volf DeWolf Hop Hop- Hopper Hopper per who has hns scattered sunshine for or nearly forty orty years ears as a comedian has lived through almost as many years jears of domestic thunderstorms Lew Levy Dock- Dock i LL J s k S d h t t i et J. J Grimaldi most famous clown of medieval times who found little happiness in life stader st der who dispensed smiles by bv the mile is is said to have havo murmured in in Isis Ins last days The only smiles in in my life were out out- outward outward outward ward ones ones And a glimpse of most of ot the present day lay smile smile makers makers on stage and screen would not sene serve to change the argument Harry Lauder pranced sang and bur bur- burred burred burred red his rs r's to the delight of thousands of boys bors in in khaki the while his Ins own jo joyous joyous- joyousness out ness was buried in the grave of his only son Trousers were originally clowns clown's wear only the word wort meaning trussed pieces of cloth tied around the legs to produce a grotesque appearance Charlie Chap Chap- Chaplin lin lm has lias adopted a modified form of this y y's s r Y M k I P 1 f ft t Charlie Chaplin i hard to recapture millions lau old garb in in his ill- ill fitting bags Chaplin who is is singularly articulate ar ar- articulate in in regard to his art explains the reason for expressing his gift of buffoonery in this garb That Tha tea costume s t u m e helps me to express my conception of the average man to mj- mj myself self he confides The derby too small is a striving for or dig dig- The moustache is is vanity the tho tightly buttoned coat and the stick are gestures to towards to- to towards towards wards gallantry and md dash and front He lie Heis Heis lieis is chasing folly and he be it He Is try try- trying ing lag to meet the world bravely to put up a 11 bluff And he knows that lint too He lie knows a n 11 hn n n n it so well he can laugh at himself and pity himself a little Charlie Chaplin admits that he like a line of clowns before him uses stupid stupid- stupidity stupidity stupidity ity as II a i stalking sulking horse gorse for or artful de de- designs designs signs When he left London for Amer Amer- America America America ica as a i member of a troupe called Wow Va Wow that included Whimsical Walk Walk- Walker er he took with him the lessons of the great Dan Leno Lena Dan Leno who knew kne so well how to bring bursts of ot merri merri- merriment merriment merriment ment to the lips of others and who died insane from brooding over his Ins own troubles Charlie Chaplin like Dan Lena Leno produces pro pro- produces produces duces fantasy from rom the meanest little subjects While he lie galumphs down the the merry mood he is trying so 30 o that he may continue to make h with his clever buffoonery J street his shoes pointing east cast and west he still injects something wistfully ro romantic ro- ro romantic romantic mantic into his acting The movie comedian hies lies back to the century clowns who were allowed to act only in pantomime Owing to the rather candid quips of some of the wags the English Parliament in in the early part of the century passed an act for for- forbidding forbidding forbidding bidding clowns to speak This served only to perfect the tho art of comic comic panto panto- pantomime pantomime pantomime mime which today finds such expression in in the silent comedy on the screen In time a distinct part was as assigned tM th 1 clown and at a later date he was banished entirely from the play and allowed only to appear in in the after pieces piece performing grotesque dances and assuming grotesque postures A quaint old volume entitled Atti Attitudes Attitudes Attitudes tudes a for or a Harlequin describes de de- describes scribes these attitudes as laid out for a comic performer It shows vs when the face should be turned to the audience when to the side what position the arms and legs should assume when the actor actoris is attempting to register the varying i emotions of mirth 1 It might have ha been easier for a smile- smile maker of that period with the thc assistant I of o the attitudes to strut his stuff for or the thc amusement of others other's while his own heart henrt was Leavy tea V than it is is for the thc temperamental Charlie Chaplin How How- However However however ever that may be the bird that perches so persistently on the standards of the fun makers fun makers does not seem to be the Blue Blue- Bluebird Bluebird bird of Happiness A plaintive little epitaph above e the grave of a court jester m in a churchyard church is is poignantly descriptive c of I many hearts that have ached under the cloak of comedy It goes goes- Here Beth lieth Bubb ye Pools r He brought bro much laughter to others r Himself he Ie cheated It ii Copyright 1927 bj bV Central Press i- i I L |