The San Francisco call. [volume], November 17, 1907, Page 8, Image 8

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
THIS STRIKING YOUNG
WOMAN IS A MAN
--, -.- . - r V .«-.:-.0,- : i.r 1 ;-.j. .-.-;-.\u25a0: \u25a0r---..i-.-.--<.-^?\>-~%.
When Jnllan xntbuc* jSr«t maie op
us a vroman In * hurlmgnr »( Han»rd
lie nrrfr Inmclnrd <bat he *ra« bejrfll
b(h; m. mtmgr career nhlrh rronl'd Ukf
hhn nil orcr fhr Trorld and make'lilm'
\u25a0 celebrity. r.ltin»r lm» Jn»t made n
great bit In leading citlr. of Eiiropr,
Trhere It fa regarded an almoat Incred
ible that a powerfully built man, iTfa*
t^rlarha 374 ponada, could make hlranrlt
tip to appear like the most beautiful
npm«n> T)i* Illusion fa complete and
Is maintained in walk, voice and finer
detail*. Eltlnge w«« an athlete «t
Harvard and still remains a redoubt
able opponent. He resents being; called
n female impersonator, and »aj"« his
nrt la acting. '
RMAK who makes Ills living In
skirts, but remains a fine manly
fellow of marked athletic tal
ents, is now astonishing stage
lard in the principal cities of Europe.
He can make up to look like any
actress; not even the beauty of Maxine
Elliott is too much for him to dupli
cate- He can dance better than most
of the premier danseuses, and has a
knowledge of dramatic arl that aids
materially In his impersonations. In
n^any cities those who have seen his
performances have found It difficult to
believe that it was really a man and
not a woman who was pirouetting be
fore the footlights.
The United States already knows '
this wonderful impersonator, tchose
skill is so great that he has raised
imitation of woman almost to an art.
He signs himself:
"Julian Dalton Eltinge, Harvard,
3 502," and any one who doubts that
when at Cambridge he was an athlete
cf some pretensions can get all the
proof he wants by stirring up a little
lovr with him.
Two or three stage hands, mistaking'
the feminine figure all made up for the
performance as the kind of easy mark
that could readily be guyed, had a rude
awakening in the shape of beatings,
the signs of which lingered long.
Mr. Eltinge is Just a trifle sensitive,
Rnd insists that because he makes his
living by imitating thfe opposite sex,
he none the less Btill retains all his
own strength and manliness the in
stant he puts aside the skirts and wig.
Mr. Eltinge is the son of wealth, his
father . being a mine owner. When
first he went on the stage in amateur
performances he had no thought that
eventually he was to. earn some 5400
a week fcr this kind of work.
A* a. member of the Hasty Pudding
club, which is Harvard's dramatic or
ganization, he attained • some slight
fame as an Impersonator of female
characters, though the work he did
then was purely in the nature of bur
lesque, and he had not yet attempted
to make himself appear like a really
beautiful woman.
Yearly the Boston cadets give an
amateur performance tlfat is one of
the social cvonts of the season. El
tinge, just out of college, studying in
an architect's office, was invited to
assist.
The Masculine Heroine
Miss Lillian Russell, who was assist
ing in coaching the performance, sug
gested that with the right kind of
make-up,. Eltinge would make an ideal
heroine for the drama, which was
known as "Hiss Simplicity."
Other members of the cast laughed
at the idea, for Eltinge weighs -174
pounds, and is of such athletic physique
that it was hard to picture him looking
the part of a sweet girlish young
maiden, who must have a liberal allow,
ance of pulchritude or make the play
ridiculous.
Mr. Eltinge, after a little bantering,
said he was willing to try, and went
through the ordeal of forcing his No/ 7
foot ir.to a No. 4 ladies' boot, and pull
ing his SO-Inch waist into a 22-inch
pair of corsets. Then he put on a
fetching wig, practiced a most winsome
smile, and donned hosiery socarefully
faked that the swish of the French
skirt disclosed a dainty ankle that
rone would ever have picked for that
of a man.
A difficulty was encountered when
.it came to talking, for in place of the
.lght, high voice that a woman has
Mr. Eltinge is a barytone. When he
let out his notes they sounded so ri
diculous coming from a daintily skirted
female that the show nearly broke ud
in laughter. : "
Then a music teacher suggested that
Instead of trying to speak in a soprano
voice he master contralto. This was
readily accomplished, and now though
his voice is heavy it could readily be
mistaken for the rich tones of some
especially deep contralto.'
At Harvard Eltinge had learned to
dance, so there was no trouble about
that
Eltinge was the hit of the show, and
the work was so much talked about
that soon theatrical managers' were
bidding for his services, and when
the figure went to the $300 mark it
was more than he could stand and
the architect turned actor.
This launched* Eltinge as a profes
sional and his progress has been made
rapid. He succeeded well in this coun
try, but Europe thought his act even
jnore remarkable, and in London, Paris
and Berlin he has been able to com
mand almost any price hp wanted.'
Particularly was the makeup in imi
tation of Maxine Elliott a success, for
the beautiful wife of Nat Goodwin is
known all over the old world, not only
from haying appeared everywhere, but
from the wide circulation given her
photographs.
The resemblance he^gets to the
actress- is wonderful, and his p'joto
craph in profile can hardly r>e told from
that of Miss Elliott. ", •:
Eltinge resents being called a female
impersonator. He says he is an actor,
just as much so es a- performer who
imitates eld men in his. makeups.
Ho is a careful student of woman's
fashions and by careful- experiment
ing finds out just what he can do and
, wV.ct is impossible.
One of his favorite guise? Is that
of a ball gown. He has good shoul
ders and with the proper adjustment
«\u2666 • ir;n- wig down his back aadTa'
high .pompadour,-: over - the i forehead he
canUook for'all Vthe kworld like a .so
cial r queen -about 1 ; to display her. beauty,
•tt" some - s bigi function! <..',-<•
\u25a0./, One >of the .dancings costumesjis* in
Imitation Sot \ai wellf known painting,
"The^Shepherdess," ;:• This' .incjudes • a
• gown .liberally^ spangled i with "'flowers.
a f.tj it 1 is -said that while donning - this
i ig; the, actor -indulges | in,'curses- of ?a
kind : so> loud and ilong.'as. seldom -tolbe
heardjeoming fromthe 1 inside of skirts.'
Is /a Perfect. Lady. %/ \u25a0 , ; C
; It"isinoUalone~ in rmakeup'^nd. voice
that ', Eltinge s; can give :-'the illusion /of
womanhood.^ 7 He : has * his ' atr ?
t tent Jon 1 with; microscopic? care? to 'every
typically: feminine , : action. '. HeVcan 'sit
h /do,wn';ilkefa; woman; ? get-? up Hfsm~ a>
, chair ;,like' one?. 'talk in the srracetul
f manner : of .«. lady' of \u25a0 refinement; ; he*un- r
d-rrstands the ar.ts of. flirtation. and can
take 'the; most, bewitching 'poses... ' 7,"
It is not 'especially J agreeable, work*:
He .says •so • himself., for 'in ; the : midst',
of 1 ali : his acting'he ;is; profoundly un-. v
comfortable, frora-i the -tight slippers
and : the imprisoned \u25a0to Ist,-, nor to" men - j
tlon?,the "trouble .of .walkingiwlth. the.
incumbrance^of -skirts and the strain
of .stTiviSjr to "avold^ all' angular or
> masculine I}.- „-.•';\u25a0 ..: \u0084 . . ' .
'.*Acc)ording % to;Eltinge i there is no form'
v of dramatic "» ork ;that-.make&. such,
"a ,*" demand- on a performejr.* and only
; the \u25a0 liberal Iffy." oif I tlie '- applause ,'* ' that :
nightly greet*; his? act -and nhe-gener
osity* of ~:the salary., keeps "him" to Uhe
,task.>- \u25a0\u25a0>-. ; .-'., . \u0084 \u25a0-..;- ••;-7 > v-c:.\
%:By ; ;way M of%seeklng- v re!ieT; hi* first
TvhJn.Tie cbraes* oft.. the, staged is
light -thick;; black cigar; /and-thls he
smokes -\u25a0 even - before i ha £ has * taken .Toff '-
The : San Francisco- Sunday. Call.
his feminine garb. It is a funny spec
tacle to see this stunning tigure in .Nile
gven decolettc and rigged in. a gown
that would be good enough for x
queen's reception puffing away at a
cigar and cursing heartily over the tlia
comfort of the stays.
Eltlnge has been so successful in de
ceiving audiences that once in a while,
usually on a wager, he makes attempts
to' deceive persons at close range. On
one occasion he '.vent to a stage man
ager and asked for a place in the
chorus.' He was perfectly mace up as
tliew; typical first row sirl. and had no
difficulty in catting acc«oit»L Not until
he had raaOe his bargain and signed a
contract did he reveal his identity. The
signed contract was the proof on whicl»
be cashed his bet.
>In r the finer' work of Eltinge's thert
Is - not a -suggestion ot burlesque or
farce. It is his aim to look exactly
like a cultured "and refined woman, and
it is only to emphasize on h'.s audience
the skill of his act that in some part* of
it he. .drops the disguise j&nd appeA?
in -his own manly attire. .
,^l3 performer has no dream of so
ciety; no thought of following the ca
reer, of Harry Lehr. He is an actor and
will stay on*, he says.