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MY FIRST PART 7% AVID BELASCO. Who Made His s<ru> Under -the *^ Name of Walter Jordan: John Dretu;:Nat Goodwin and Others fell of the Memorable Periods When They Garnet Warren r \u25a0 HE little baothers of the human race attach a I freat importance to first things. Our first kisses, sf course, were the sweetest; our first loves thl dearest; our first long trousers the 'most hallowed.- . These memories are very sweet. There is one sweeter — the first, first part of him who has played many. And if you get your stars in a right humor (and stars are usually in a right humor when 6oothed by the benign environment of possible publication) they will indulge in very moving rem iniscence. » • In a recent chat David Belasco gave in the best I possible Belasco vein the tender memory of his first part: "I became stage. struck," remarked Mr. Belasco, "at a very early age. I know that I was. stage struck be cause I am conversant with the symptoms. I have seen them since. Being stage struck I had, of course, ambition — the saving spirit of that awful state. "I used to be the prize reciter in_ Lincoln . school, San Francisco, in those very glorious days. I took the recitation prize for 10 years there, and a good deal of m3 r spare time was devoted to conceiving mj-self the center of large throngs who acclaimed me. I remember that in these happy fancies I invariably conceived m3*self a massive, imperious sort of man — dignified, deliberate, impressive. I was only about 17 then, and at tha^time had not yet lost hope of grow "'Well, my great piece, I remember, was 'The Mad man.' Whenever I felt conditions to be. just right out came 'The Madman. 1 I devoted much time to him. I was always thinking of new business for him. I remember that I used to go around among the antique stores even in those times. In one of them I bought about a hundred pounds of chain, and -I . used to fix that to my legs and arms when I recited 'The Madman.' In impassioned moments I would • clank the chain. I put great feeling into the cul minating parts of 'The Madman.' "All my admirers used to say: 'It's grand, but that boy Davy will break a blood vessel over that thing.' They ad-vised my father to restrain me in the matter of The Madman.' Realism finally claimed me to such " &n extent that I used to secrete a little bladder of red color in my hand. W T hen tho strong. effects of 'The Madman* -would arrive the veins would swell at my neck; my face wouldi grow very red. I could hear my friends saying, 'It's grand, but that boy will surely break a blood vessel. He puts so much spirit into it he'll break an artery sure.' Then I would. commence to cough, and, under cover of my hand, would break the red bladder over my face. After which I would " kick and gurgle "a little. It was very realistic. • "However, my teachers were impressed. They thought I was going to be a great actor. They talked together and decided that I should go on the stage. They even interviewed the stage/ manager of the Metropolitan opera house, San Francisco, and as sured him that God had given me dramatic genius. I suppose that he must have believed them, for he engaged me to play in a' piece called 'The ' Lion of Nubia.' I was an actor at last! AS WALTER JORDAN' "In the flush of anticipated • triumph I took the stage name of Walter Jordan: I thought that it sounded much more romantic than David Belasco^ "Well, I had to take the part of a young officerun 'The Lion, of Nubia,' and I was all worked up about it. I talked 'The Lion of Nubia' for several weeks. I know that I dreamed about it On the day I went down to tho. theater at 3 o'clock to 'make up.' The stage manager came about 7, and there was I stroll ing about the stage, very highly, painted, and - with' a large mustache and side .whiskers. ! '"Who on earthare you?' asked he. "'Walter Jordan,' I replied. .Tarn Walter Jordan— the new actor.' "'Well/ saidhe, /Walter Jordan, go down and take all that stuff off and. look like a- human. being, again/ So I went v down and took the big. mustache off and the whiskers and a good deal of the paint; and I was walking about at the back of the; scenes very, very ; nervous, when my; father. came in with three or* four lemons. He handed me one,' saying, 'Suck this, Davy "So He Came and Dragged Me Off" -David BeUsco suck this.' Well. I kept sucking the lemon and walk ing about. I didn't go on till the fifth act in 'The Lion of Nubia.' "The theater was packed' by all my, school fellows that night. They filled the scats and were standing rows deep. T^ey didn't want to see 'The '"Lion of Nubia'; the} r wanted to see Walter Jordan* act. They had with them horns and squeaking things. All through the first act they kept blowing them and squeaking them and crying out 'Dave! Dave!' "And all through the second act they called out, 'Where's Dave? Bring on Dave!' "In the third and fourth acts they did the same. That audience didn't seem to do anything else but shout for Dave. The leading lady was furious. 'Who is this Dave?' said she; and- it was explained to" her ' that it was a-young actor — one Walter Jordan— who was making his first appearance. "So finally came the time to enter. I had to come on with four others, and I was supposed to enter first. "Now, I didn't know much at that time, but I knew just enough to know that I wanted to enter — last. Therefore I made believe to fix my boot at the en trance moment. - :•':.: 1-' ""'Go on! go on!' the others shouted, and I got busier than ever with my boot. "'For heaven's sake go on!' I said: 'I'll be right after you; I've got to fix this boot.' The stage man ager pushed the others on. I gave the house a decent . interval for expectancy and then — "I came out on to tho. stage — alone. The house — „ which is to say .my school ; fellows — went crazy. 'Dave! Dave!' they shouted; and then, 'The Madman!' 'The Madman.' - "Now, it was one of those old .fashioned stages which stood far out. I" walked to the center of it and bowed straight befpre^me." ' '"Davy! Davy!' shouted the "audience. '"The. Mad man!" "The Madman!" I turned around and bowed on the -left side. The audience blew horns and shrieked. It was like a nomination in a national con- " vention. 'Davy, ' Davy!' they yelled. '"The 'Mad man!'' "The Madman!" I turned around and bowed again and the cries got louder than ever. ' "The Mad man!" "The Madman!" 'Davy! Dave!' I put my hand up for silence. They* thought they were going to get 'The Madman' and stilled themselves/ ' "ThenJ commenced my only line: 'I saw the fugi tives making their way on the left bank of the river,' . or something like that. An indescribable din 1 arose. 'Give us "The Madman!"' "The Madman!" "The stage manager was motioning to me from the • wings. 'Come off!' ; he said. But I didn't wany to go off. I'd just come on. So he came and dragged me off. It was a sort of primeval hook. Then the.lead ing lady tried to go on wither lines, but it was sim ply hopeless. Tho audience was yelling, .'Davy! 'Davy! give, us "The Madman!" ' with all its" might. They held the play up for r about a quarter of an hour." Finally I had to go on and recite 'The Madman.' *Then the play continued. ItVas a great triumph. I got 50 cents for -that night's work. But" T got ; disV, charged when they gaveit to me. And I- didn't get another engagement for a year." LEW FIELDS' FIRST. APPEARANCE / Lew Fields' first appearance" was at an earlier age than that of Mr. Belasco.. He had attained the sure maturity of 9, . and hungered ' for dramatic fame -in a ' burnt cork .direction, -which was the great direction^" of the time. Burnt . cork was the vogue, the uni- versal^craze. ,' ; ? ,~ v, "My schoolmate, Joe, Weber, and I were particu larly transfixed," he- said a' day or- two ago. "We haunted the London and the; Bowery theater and : there worshiped at its shrine: Then we would. go 'i home; and practice/ v-r-I' "Three months .before .our: debut, we— -practiced.- Our neighbors underneath . protested at the ; reverbera; - ; tion " of our .double somersaults -and rwe i retreated to s : the cellar. ' ,r ; - ; .- '; ''\u25a0'\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0\u25a0, ~^.v.'v'--' \u0084:' ' '". ".'\u25a0>\u25a0\u25a0 .;T' : ' "Now, : our; debut: was upon a New Year's eve. It « • was to: be 'at^Turn hall, in Fourth'street. Wefstarted^ to rehearse; at : daylight December ;31 - and < coritin-^ . uedtill nightr, We ."were : pcrfcch \ * : ." "Our somersaults • were unexecptionable. our iVonjr a : very r triumph : of/ songs. \\Vc iiivilcd tiur p:'rc::G to v witness our first public performance/: so ccriain\\ ; erc> we of our. fame. Our mothers armed themselves with bouquets and accompanied us. We warned them that: our faces would be black and that recognition would be difficult. But,-; of course, you can't cheat a mother upon the- appearance- of her own son. Our two mothers said that. • "ItJhappened that there were two other boys upon the program "that night who possessed black \ faced ambitions also. We: were fifth, -while 1 they came' third. They somersaulted and sang before us and scored a hit/ At' this. point and with overweening pride, our two mothers- rose v from their seats and hurled, the flowers— -our*: flowers — at tfre ; two other boys -with the black faces. VThat maternal- instinct is a' queer thing at times.*' \u25a0- • - . . .; /.•\u25a0 "Then-came our turn. .We came out. ' "I can : remember /my mother sitting there, with utter, absolute- indifference written upon , her face. The expression' of Joe Weber's mother was the ex pression of ; my mother. There might have-been; a vaguetihgeof. compassion for those*' two 'poor; little chaps who could presume to follow the wonderful success of theirboys. I remember all this— and then— "Do you know what stage fright is? Do you know "What Will He Be When Re Grotx* \u25a0* — John Drew " 1 Made a Dash Toward That Door and Out Into the Street" .-O A VI D 8 E LA SCO Vltcn H< Wai Known\o me Sligt as Waller Jordan. that horrifying, paralyzing, penetrating thing called stage bright? In the whole gallery of horrors, "sea sickness and visits to dentists arc niild and futile in comparison. I remember the- words of the • song which we sang. They were very ingenuous. They ran: "'Here we arc, 'two lively mokes, From ole Virginia's shore; \u25a0 The olcVman taught us how to dance Upon the cabin floor. The steps lie showed up how to take • We'll show them now to you; - He ; made our feet go flip-flap-flap Before we wore >' a ' shoe/ « ' \u25a0<%& "Then was supposed to \u25a0 come the fambui . somcr sault,,so.splendidly executed in the sympathetic;sur roudings ;of the cellar. I suooose I must have "tried to somcrs'ault 'that evening. - It was in the 'program. But ;the; somersault responded: not. The; seclusion of the -cellar was unfitted" to the stage. I tried; and sprawled. VI \u25a0-can picture -yet the glare of the: gas lights and. what appeared :to -be a million faces. \ can hear : the i yelH which !w%nt "up:" I can see * the curtain going'do\vn upon us-— our act not half over. '-. "Well/ ;I; I -went" home' and /my mother* asked i where the bouquet was. ,• She wanted to;put it in water. : 'It was v onev of those presents -^ which you' give/ to/ yojur wife and which:you- think : might ; possibly- comeiin 1 use ful for yourself. I didn't /explain, 'whereupon -she considerately Xdiscussed/theJ poor boy's i collapse— -the boy that J fell over. ; V- :^" ' '"''•"\u25a0' \u25a0-." •:'" j" i^He^wasn't 'fitted if or hhe stage/ she' said^ from lier height \pi /conscious^knowledge/ -"He ought ;tof golto work/ .Then! my, father' looked sup5 up and said : 'Yes, ; Lew. I^think^thatyou; had ; better go to- work/ f "He- knew. ;"But f the*' theatricai bee was. far 'too fixed upon ; me forithat. .The; theatrical bee 'is. even more r'crsistcnt/thamtHc "presideiitial; bee/ Two nights later I appeared in "public in t lie . Chatham SuuaVe ' museum^ Weber's ; stage ambitions -were temporarily blighted. He had/gone to wprk." ';••..- , v CAWTHORN - ; "My first i part was Marks, the lawyer, in TJncle Tom's 'Cabin,' " said! Joseph > Cawthorn ' recently. "But I was a ; manager before that ; I took out the 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' show in which I played Marks, and was fully ,19 at Ctho time: I ; played in vaudeyille 'before that," but vaudeville doesn't, count. You can't call vaudeville a part., - - * "Well;, ours was 1 a tent show, you ' know, and being 19 »I .wasn't" experienced- in) tent shows. At the first performance six, rows of = people fell down. We fin ished' the performance/ however, and retired to our canal boat convinced that all tne preliminaries would be easy -next time.' There is nothing like experience to teach/ - ;. j -'\u25a0 • '*• "Unfortunately, however,; there had been an acci dent* in the matter of -the canal. All the water ran out:of it during 'the "nigh tT We 'inquired about this* and asked /when the/ w'ater'might be < expected to put in an appearance; again. We found it would take about; seven weeks, so we made a wagon show of it. You can't suppress youth. . • "Now, 'we had a Dutch band with that wagon show, and tjiat country unfortunately happened to be - a prohibition one. I "may tell you that beer seems to bean.unhappy necessity to Dutch bands. So we lost the members of ours/oneby one. They stated that you can do many things oh a dry 1 throat, but that jou can'tplay wind instruments. At this stage I sold out the show to a man called Sisson, who also had his troubles. It became necessary to leave dogs behind — for board bills. At 'each new place Sisson would leave a'dog. * .' ""Finally there was one dog left and they, couldn'f leave that, or there wouldn't have been any way of locating George -Harris. So Sisson commenced to leave bundles pf things. It was at this point that he sent for me to play Marks. It was at a place called " The Nose Went on Crowing Bigger -\u25a0-..\u25a0-\u25a0*• " \u25a0 :-.*. -•* \u25a0 and Bigger : At the first Performance Six Kows of People Fell Down OA-VtO vWAPFIELD ' ' f A"i\«h* ft Age '•£ or ?fw,cniv Cou ri « » viofi.ih«Umencßn Maqanne." Alliance,. in ; Ohio. I reached the town and looked up the 'boarding- house : at \u25a0•which- the company were stopping. -.-.•\u25a0 \Vhcn I: knocked I found a chain on the door and- a woman peering, around it. "/Have Tybu got a ticket?' asked she. "-'Ticket for" what?' I asked. "'Dinner/ she replied. • " 'l'm" one of the company/ I said. ".'That's -why we put , the chain, on the door.' she said. 'The members of the company have a habij of leaving without . payment' after .eating/. Well; I ate dinner ; and - got ;ready - to) play - Marks, but there were seven attachments on': the show, and they couldn't get the canvas, froni^ the -wagonsi So I couldn't play Marks. You see, Marks;.was m\% first part, though ;I never. reached the'point'of 'playirig'it.*.' . ; . JOHN^DREW ' ;V^ " I; will never forget my; first part," said John Drew. \u25a0 VEverybody . expected \u25a0me to' be so yery nervous, and \I . expected to be so = myself. . And I was so very cool, so very aggravatingly cool.l wasrising 20 at the time. Forimonths^beforejlrhad been eagerly/ expectant" of my/debut." 7 Of course, , my profession . liad r l6ng since :been;marked: out. ; for(me,lcoming; as I did, of , a the atrical; family. .;. : ." . y~: "But as- week -byjweek, week by week slipped by I:found myself, speculating t andVgrowingiyery appre hensive.- I. was -nervous as .to the ; possibility of nerv ousness upoh'"the opening; ntghtl I grew- so vepyi ap prehensive', ''-/indeed,'"-.; that , my- mother decided : to } take [a/part^in^the/performance; I or.; the* purpose of lending me isomeVmoral support. • \u25a0j-V. "It was in the old , Arch Street theater, in Phila- If appeared: first. :;It rwas- my mother's *ownj(theater,',-and the i for ; the /display of: my risingitheatrical i ambition •; was' a * piece; I . rememSer, called^ ' As \u25a0 : Cool >as : a Cucumber.*: The celebrated Charles /rMatthews V played ; the .principal part, and }1 myself ; was I cast k 'f6rian « important : role.' iI '\u25a0 remember my 'mother' laughingfatithe; contrast' between 'my*per turbe"d[s_taite'\u25a0';of niind ; ahd]the r name of the play. Well, two"dayslbefore^and:l .was "very nervous, a. day, before and :I' became" more nervous stilly then the' evening, and— v ',--^-; ; -:.'-; .-"\u25a0',;\u25a0'.: - \u25a0 : i ;/.":,-\u25a0•%/ "I: was. cool a^ ; ice.' \l\vcnt throuph the part^'like a vc.iC-rr.n. '1 \vh7 'j(7::;c-:ous' thatfcycr.vb'oily l>clu:ul ;w;w lookinij'l'for Hie: tu.displav. some .wcakncbt. a::d 1 look; 1 ' -': - \u25a0\u25a0'.-, •\u25a0":' '\u25a0-:. '\u25a0 .."'•.; - '\u0084 / ' *i*'n« Tim* V^' His > .O»but wiin loi W«oer, 'Photograph toy Sarony. * . Tne San Francisco Sunday CaHv a sort of stem delight in disappointing them. I could see the distinct shade of disappointment on the part of my mother, who was a little annoyed that tha moral support she was offering was wasted upon me. As I became more composed my mother became pro portionately more and more vexed. The whole audi-« ence, of course, knew that it was my first appearance and were watching me curiously, too. "Then came a line where my mother had to say to me: . 'What an impudent young manl' She .said this and then, turning to the audience, remarked, on tha spur of the moment and in a confidential tone: 'What will he be when he grows up?' The audience saw tha point and laughed loudly. My mother told me after ward that she said this with the wish to disconcert mo a little. I, however, simply waited for the laughter: to cease, as cool a3 a cucumber myself, and then con-* tinued. "I have often wondered at my unnatural coolness that evening. I have never satisfactorily explained it, but I have sometimes thought that in some remote way heredity, speaking through the dramatic strain of our family, was responsible." NAT GOODWIN ' Nat Goodwin's first appearance was of a precisely opposite nature to that of Mr. Drew. "I was 17 when I played my first part," aaid Nat Goodwin, "although before that I had been a reader, declaimer and mimic in Boston, where I lived. Suc ceeding at this, I became very ambitious and pre sented myself at .the stage door of a theater in Prov idence, asking to be given a "chance. " 'You look very young.' said the stage manager. , "'Oh, I'm not young at all,' said I, with the air of at least 80. r/ ;>/"-' " *Do you think you can play a part?' asked he. I said 'Sure.' with all the confidence in the world. He told me afterward that that confidence impressed him. 'Here is a fellow who's got. his nerve,' thought he. 'He won't fail through any lack of confidence.' So he engaged me to act in a piece called 'The Bottle.' I was to play a sort of light, genteel villain, and felt very certain of the success I was to make. During the rehearsals I remember that I* used to tell another young member of the company not to be afraid, and that the whole secret of acting lay in confidence^ ' \u25a0\u25a0 •"I got braver and braver up till the night. I didn't feel a flutter even when the curtain t went up. I was nervous only when I commenced to speak. Then my own voice sounded hollow and my kriees shook. I went through. the first act, but T noticed the other members of the company smiling. The young man I had been advisirfg was obviously more collected than was I. When I came on in the next act I com menced to grow worse. I steadily continued to do so. They had continually to prompt me, and the audience was commencing to snicker. Then the' curtain went up for the third act, in which T was to appear quite prominently. I was lost to everything by then till I heard the stage manager calling my name. At tho same instant the stage door must have opened, for I felt a cool draught blowing from its direction into my face. . I made an instinctive dash toward that door and out into the street, makeup and stage clothes and all upon me. I can remember quick turning figures and laughing faces. But I didn't care. I was clear of that accursed theater and in a few minutes was in a train on my way back to Boston. "I heard afterward that they announced- from the stage that I had suddenly been taken ill (which waa too. too true!) and had called upon another member of the company at short notice to continue my part. This he did by reading it. I do not believe, in look ing back over my life, that I ever approached the 'But the Somersault Responded Not NAT OOODVVIW Fnm • Photograph oViSar cr»v. -Tn*«i» Shortly Afigr;Hn First Public ApDC^ranca;^ same feeling of panic about^anything which I did a 2 rrfv first- performance." DAVID WARFI ELD'S DEBUT David Warfield made his first appearance in a part that was a part inNapa, Cal., about 22 yers ago. Mr. Warfield was ambitious but "green," particularly* in the matter of "makeup." He had distinct tendencies toward realism notwithstanding the, time, the place and the show. The production, in fact, was no other than our old friend, "The Ticket of Leave Man," and Mr. Warfield's part in it was to' portray Melter Moss a Jew of extremely sinister tendencies. Now. Mr. Warfield decided to exer^ much; skill upon the makeup of Melter Moss. The young have tendencies to, exhibit skill upon, the things about which they don t know anything. -And Mr. Warfield decided that the nose. of Melter Moss would be a supreme achievement. He would make the size-of the nose proportionate to Mr. Moss' villainy Whereat he bethought himself of the term "putty nose," which was even in use in California in that early day So green swas; he, fhough, that -he did not know the essential difference which exists between the theatri cal putty, and the putty of glaziers. He, however was set upon the idea of the putty nose ami went to the glaziers, where he bought a large quantity of honest, commercial, putty. This he sedulously knead ed -and produced a nose It was a striking creation and very large. -Mr.* Warfield felt the thrill of the artist and the men who . do big things. S\t his" en* trance he was greeted with-; roars of laughter I ' l ,;f elt ., t - 1 l a . t to* '^."f ?M th 5 P u "y nose was "a happy ?"/'u S t-n M J- * Warfi . eld '^ w .hen I^heard that laughter I felt thrilled when it s went on increasing: The houTe began ; to grow hysterical. . Then began to fee? a queer .sensation— a .soft, -spreading sensation .The heat:of the;sott.Napa mghts^ was- beginning to affect the; putty,; which wasmndergoing .the gentle processes of expansion.;. rThat nose .went on growing bigger and bigger, Thatnoserendedjßy.going about all my % c y V?y. factors 'were trying vainly to speak their rlines.'handicapped :by; the noise of : the an d je n .ce . and 1 .- their • own laughter. Mercifully . my tima came to make an exit,- and on doirigsol pulled off till putty and \ continued «->.u nature!.-" t " , .. . "I retired •tempbrarih- ir<s;n tK ; r-tp^c after that #> n sagemcnttcT study -practical m^kcuy." \u25a0 IOHN DREW >>v S*r*> Q«».jT»»tMrn in the Early SO*