Newspaper Page Text
t o 1 T/ a ? ; \4 nr « Iff I ■ 1 ' If; it|! : I L:V; ' t ..W ■i I 1 ill I M K? The Husband Who Guards His Wife's Dressing Room and Inter feres With Her Manager. * By Clara Morris BSERVATION show* that every explosion is followed by a loud report, a cloud ot stifling dust and an unpleasant odor—phenomena most strongly marked in the case of theatrical matrimonial explosions. But, alas, again We find ourselves quot lng the old-time clown's famous first line, "Here we are again." For in the words of one of their friends, "James and Clara Young have let their domestic menage go to the demnitlon bow-wows." Nobody is better known in the movies than Clara Kimball Young. In the courts ehe now asks to be released from her marital partnership with her husband, James Young. Her future promises bet ter, looks brighter without him. The question has been asked, "Is a husband a detriment to an actress?" ! And now that this matrimonial explo sion has filled the air with dust, It may be long before it settles, if Mr. Young presses his suit for damages against Mr. Belznick, the well-known motion picture producer. Thus the theatrical profession will receive another black eye, while to the legal profession profit will accrue. For as "the young lions do seek their meat of God," so many lawyers seem to seek their meat of the theatres, and find It in goodly chunks, by way of injunction, broken contracts, back royalties', dis puted film rights, divorces, separations, but never, never by breach of promise suit. o 4 In Clara Kimball Young's suit against her husband she complains that James assailed her, grasping her and choking her, thereby bruisring her arms and neck and causing her pain and anguish. On one occasion, so she alleges, her husband grasped her by the neck and hurled her from him. But this can hardly be the whole story. In the millions of feet of motion picture reels of this charming actress she has been in just such situations, no doubt, and worse. For a motion picture actress to be dragged around by her hair and choked and bruised is all in the dqy's work. The hero or the villain or some body does this sort of thing to the heroine in almost every reel. It is in the complaint of James Y'oung In his suit against Manager Selznick that we discover an illuminating sidelight. In the husband's explanation of what has been going on we find this paragraph in s »worn complaint: "Since March, 1914, the defendant (Mr. Belznick), wrongly contriving and intend lng to injure the plaintiff and deprive him of the society and comfort of his wtfe, and willfully and maliciously intending to destroy her affection for the plaintiff, wrongfully and falsely represented to her that the plaintiff was a detriment to her artistic advancement and career and was not fit to be her husband and compan ' Ion." hi Here we have (he question raised in this court proceeding as to whether this particular husband was a detriment to this particular actress. As bearing directly upon this point Mr. Young proceeds in his complaint as fol lows: "And the defendant promised that he would promote Clara Kimball Young's advancement and career and promised to enter into a contract with her for per sonal services in posing, and particu larly in making photo-plays, but. on the express condition that she must leave the bed And board of "Pursuant to a did enter into a contract with her to appear under «the defendant's manage ment and did instigate her to bring in this court an action for a legal separa tion from this defendant." / this- plaintiff, scheme, «ne defendant Eggs Fresh from Farm Not Always Fit to Eat HERE is a popular impression that eggs are a food that is absolutely safe and pure to use;-that because it Is en closed in a shell an egg must of necessity be all that it should be always, of course, barring the kind more or less near to the chicken stage. Yet in experiments made by Dr. Lippincott of the Iowa State College of Agriculture a direct and immediate relationship was proved between the raw material fed to the hen and the makeup of the egg. Every poultry man knows that a diet composed partly of onion will cause the onion odor and flavor in the eggs produced by hens so fed, just as well as the dairyman knows how quickly onions eaten by cows will taint their milk. Professor Lippincott succeeded in coloring both the whites and the yolks of the eggs by dyes fed in capsule form. On a given Sunday night at 6 o'clock the capsules were fed and the yolk of an egg laid at 10 a. m. on the following Tuesday had a distinct band of color around it, thus demonstrating how quickly the food eaten is converted Into egg material. T I tr a tiurband a Detriment 1° Act reif? Clara Morris Discusses This Interesting Question Which the Matrimonial Shipwreck of Clara Kimball Young Has Brought Before the Courts I ■i t His i i M 9 9 m 1 * • tr ■ ' ; ■ SK m¥ Clara Kimball Young W in : miJ it-' * ; h ,i *er ' > . % . * > : y 'n*r_ ' , mM W f«*n> ov ■ WMiTt -e*-v. lots it go at that. But James Young seems not to be of the laissez faire type, nor yet "too proud t0 flght." He has made Mr. Selznick the toad under the harrow of his suit for damages. And if Mrs. Clara Kimball Young were not so very pretty a woman R ( le might be tempted to return and throw f herself into the arms of me nusband, who, after possessing her affections five years, pays her the public compliment of holding them still at a $100,000 valuation. Only think what a revenge he might have taken by asking for damages so email as to have covered the delinquent wife with ridicule. But a woman cannot serve two masters, and naturally such beauty has the first call upon real love and devotion. For, be tt known, "Vanity finds its heaven in endless adulation." Its purgatory is obscurity, while "Vanity unfed dan be more cruel than hate." And now, anent this inconsequent breaking ot the marriage bond, we are asked, "Is a husband a detriment to an actress?" Then why under heaven does the actress take so many of them? This pronouncement is doubtless the result of research work, of careful investigation. Such a discover:' shows how slow' must have been the mental processes of those ■' It is proper to say that Mr. Selznick has made answer denying all these charges. But there is the question—is an actress's husband a bothersome nui sance? The actor marries every time. He is too gallant to break his promise to a woman. Besides, in his sprightly way, he realizes that a divorce is more eco nomical than a suit for breach, particu larly when, again gallant, he allows the lady to get it. There is a certain element of surprise in this» Young case that lends it interest, for actors almost never bring suits for alienation. If a fair one transfers her affections to another, generally he dwells upon the quality of those fish yet in the sea, ana Copyright, 1910, by the Star Now, If a coloring matter be conveyed to the egg so quickly it seems quite clear that other substances will be oenveyed with equal speed. The quality of the egg may be considered therefore to be determined by what the hen eats. If iter food is and how eggs are produced. Unquestionably the great bulk good, clean, sound and healthful grasses, meats, etc., the result ing eggs will be fit for human consumption. Now, what are the facta? To get at them consider where of eggs are produced on the-general purpose farms all over the country, where flocks of hens are kept as a sort ot necessary evil, whereby the' women folks may earn thetr pin money. In the main, hens forage for themselves. They roam over the farm, living on grasses, bugs, worms and waste grains, etc., in season. Buch food 4s entirely natural and capable of being converted into perfectly good eggs. But, and here Is the fly in the ointment, they have one spot which they dearly love, the barnyard, with its heaps of decaying refuse. There they dig and scratch and_eat things that are calculated to taint the egg product. actors of old, some of whose names are ■' cut deep on marble, bronze or brass, and others are "written In water," who were content in private life to be good citizens, to live on with the mate taken In mar riage. And so lacking were they In tem perament that they sometimes sacrificed their personal happiness to the honor of the profession they served, and actually, from the Kean, Kemble, Siddons, the second Kean. Jenny Lind, Macready, Lady Martin down to our own Jefferson, Hol land, Meader, Farren, Conway, Daven port, Booth, Barrett and Couldock, not one actor or actress knew that marriage was detrimental to stage gtory and last ing success. They steadily went their way, respecting every contract mqde, whether theatrical or matrimonial. But now that a husband (s a detriment, I keep asking myself why—and again why? If he Is a parasite, refusing to act even as a combination courier, valet, publicity agent and husband, devoting himBelf to billiards and cigarettes—yes, he may be a detriment. Again, It is conceivable that a husband with an enlarged but lightly furnished head, might kick against managerial au f thorlty, being incapable of understanding that an actress goes where the manager sends her to, and rehearses when he com mands her to, and that there can he, for her, no "divided duty" between ^nanager and husband. Friction and irritability follow. The accused in a French court once explained to the Judge, "No, monsieur, she was not unfaithful. She was a good woman, but, really, she made herself so fatiguing T killed her," Nowaday» when the actress's husband proves too "fatigu ing" she—shakes him as a detriment to her success. Bui there are dozens of ex-husband» w'ho were neither parasites nor trouble makers. Just consider this list of fair women, dramatic and operatic, who in the dance matrimonial have so exactly followed the "calling off", of "Indies change. Balance all. Cheat your partner and swing to corners." It -would he discourteous not to begin with the dean of the marriage game, the ever fair Lillian Russell—but then, with her the making collection^ has always been a fad. Where Is Jobyna Howland's author husband; Sarah Truax's actor mate; Fritzie Schelfs novelist spouse; Mary Blythe's actor; Mary Mannering's actor and business man; Julia Sanderson's fa mous jockey; Rose Stahl's actor com panlon (not, as tt proved, for life); Mme. Nordica's business man first," singer sec ond, banker, third; Maggie Teyte's law yer; Patti's aHstocrat-Marquis; Emma Eames's artist; Julia Marlowe's actor; Mune. Schumann-Heink's business man? It's like sadly saying over a rosary of names Instead of prayers. Now what was wrong with them all—these mar riages? These women all loved, or thought they did, and yet "divorce" is deeply carved on the gravestone of each dead love, and each of these separations has done its share to lessen the good re pute of the fine old profession, for whose honor no one seems to "care a hang." The conditions of stage life are not conducive to domestic happiness and con tinuous marriage, but they are not neces sarily fatal to them. As witnesses/ whereof I set down the first half-dozen names that come to mind ot permanent ly married professionals. There is Mr. John Drew, who married the lovable and charming little MisB Baker, of Phila deiphia, and they are happily living again in their young daughter. James O'Neill married one of Cleveland's boasted beau ties, and, together with two stalwart sons, they lead a family life. Mr. Will lam Seymour married Miss May Daven port, and the union has lasted long enough for them to give in marriage their daughter, who is a startling replica of her beautiful aunt, the late Fanny Davenport. The dark-eyed, Intense Miss Arthur and the blond and charming Miss George are tooth in the continuous marrlagi game and were never more popular with the public than at this immediate mo ment. While Miss Barrymore, having "given hostages to fortune" in the shape of three sturdy and. winning little ones, . certainly seems to toe on the way to con tinuous marriage. There are others, thank God, but these names are known of all men and best hear witness that permanent marriage is not impossible In theatrical life. Then where does the fault He for «11 these broken vows and bonds? First, let us consider that the price of '"outside" happy and permanent marriage the whole world over is much self-control and some ^elf-sacrifice. There cannot be successful married life without paying this price for it. If. as Shakespeare claims, "A friend should bear his friend's infirmities," how much more should love be willing to bear Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved. IB:' It causes greatness and importance,--which in turn produces arrogant selfishness. Public applause ts an Olympian cocktail that urns many heads, and this exaggerated ego, when the thrill and novelty of mar rlage is gone, discovers that a husband is a detriment to the career, in two or three cases women In the foregoing list have been forcèd, through cruel disloyalty, to ask freedom of the courts, but there are others who, having married simply on impulse, because they are human, and were women before they were actresses, who can give no other rea son for unmarrying than that childishly feminine, all Inclusive, "Oh, because." But it is not fair to charge these broken marriages to the hard conditions 0 { theatrical life, its temptations and the miseries of "the road" alone, for if an actress wants to stay married, she will, tossing up her chin at a whole brigade 0 f scowling managers- Holding the lius (band s hand she would steadily walk a twelve-inch plank across the burning pit. just to be with him. Ambition is a most worthy thing. To work for it, to sacri flee much for it. Is noble. But no one j a justified in sacrificing the happiness and honor of another person to further his or her own ambition, if only these young worshippers of the scorching light of publicity will show a grain of gratitude to the profession that gives them everything worth having; if they will cease thinking that for them "Law, life, love, joy, impulse, are one thing;" which is "angels' law," not un tresses'; if they will give their ego the rest cure—there will be fewer smudges arid black marks against the honor of a profession which is so worthy of loving, reverent service. Lillian Russell, t||§ Who Tried Three Husbands and Dis pensed With Them, 1 As Being of No Ad vantage to Her Career. But, can love's Infirmities! one Imagine one of these any marriage breakers evpr asking "Who am I that I should demand perfection in my husband? many of them, quietly thinking back a ^ bit, can say "I did my best?" It is not only the hard conditions of stage life, but the exaggerated ego of the women themselves that cause these brief bitter How sweet marrylngs. Only those who have tasted public ap plause can imagine what a powerful intox icant it is. It exalts, it inflates, like the "in sane root that takes the reason prisoner." delusions of-- individual • 1 A 'O' <i , rfifii 'iß *95 ••jt klK T n The Amiable Husband Who Com* piacently Obeys Orders and Never Asks Questions. \ \ The defendant, willful ly and maliciously intend ing to destroy her affec tion for the plaintiff wrongfully' and falsely represented to her that the plaintiff was a detriment to her artistic advance ment and career and was not fit to be her husband and companion. From James Young's complaint in his suit fou $100,000 damages against Manager Selznick. U ft ! ' I ; 'fit; ' / * - l . ■ > , ■ » .V* ; i Mi iOiS »V I % üm r i < * .. - ■ ' - ü ' ë ' Photo.- a ■"VHITg. N