Nat Goodwin's Book

lights in su

call

nto verbal conflict with him (yet always merciful to his adversary), with the wit of Douglas Jerrold without the cynicism, the courage of a lion, the gentleness of a saint-there you have but a faint conception of the qualities of this child of Bohemia. I knew him for twenty-five years and in all

reated so powerfully brilliant. She allowed his genius to run purposelessly upon the sands of time until, jealous of th

man-it is too terrible to recall-but I shall give the wor

ness and a legacy of three brilliant children, whom I knew as Barry's

nd Lionel-I g

ked the reason, he answered "I am terribly annoyed and excessively angry

dred dollars a week and, in the foreshadowing of that lady's failure in a rather r

as thoroughly deserved! I was there and I never saw such

elt on; no attention was paid to her finesse and subtle art. That was all lost, due to the huge playhouse in which we were forced to appear. Hammerstein's was nev

rows, the suffering endured by those closer to the actors. I am no prude, but I felt the blush

oblems are to be solved. Maybe the language suffered in the adaption but that does not palliate the offense

cation can that give? I tell you, Barrymore, you may be all right in your argument but the

u fail to realize, my dear Lackaye, that Hammerstein's

o see Sothern's "Hamlet" which he was playing for the

a performance?" asked a friend

, "My boy, I neve

a very heated controversy. Mayo would project an idea and before Barrymore could get breath enough to answer would spring another. Mayo had put sever

to meet a man of your calibre-to interchange thoughts

al capacity?" asked Barry. "I never get

ad a prompt book with her." She simply bowed haughtily and was about to pass on when he apologized for being away all night, finishing with, "Oh, by the way, Georgie, dear, I was with Geoff Hawley last evening." "Indeed," said his wife, "I thought Haw

ho knew whereof he spoke concerning the climatic conditions of the Rialto during the hot months when the thespian is prone to talk about the summer's adversity. Barrymore was equally conversant with the va

e was but a reflex of the homage paid to t

(but always guarded as to the manner of touch!). He touched an effect but never assaulted it, as Mansfield did. Conscious of his limitations he never ventured upon dangerous ice and always left his audi

ll star" cast of "The Rivals." My associates were Julia Marlowe, William

management told me that her salary for the tour was less than that paid to Francis Wilson! My weekly stipend

tistic) I watched Mr. Jefferson day and night. He was most kind

at he would have a try at my redemption. My conduct was so exemplary, however, that the third week he apologized to me and earnestly begged that during the rest of the tour I kindly look after him. As Willie, Jo

hods in his interpretation of Bob Acres and while he was not my ideal I think that his interpretation was really better than the author intended. I used to shriek with laughter listening to his curtain speeches or, ra

ac

h Jef

ieve I impro

ht speech of the dear old gentleman, remembering the homage that he paid to the author, his reference to the artistic rendering that they were giving his work, the extreme pleasure it afforded him and his comrades to have the privilege of acting such a comedy as this. Then with a five-dollar-trembling voice he would bewail the fact that Sheridan was not permitted to view this wonderful interpr

participated in by Joseph Brooks, the Jefferson boys, and the dear old gentleman (with Charles Jefferson in the lead, with the nightly receipts), convinced me that they were! They would arrive at the car-panting-and falling into t

duction, or even leased a theatre, like Mansfield, or Sothern, Irving, or Possart? Had he during the last decade created any characters? An echo answered "No!" Then what had he done from the time of his association with L

thirty years or more he presented Rip to the dear American public with intermittent changes to "The Rivals," "Caleb Plummer," Dr. Pangloss in "The Heir at Law" and "Lend me Five Shillings." The revival of these latter plays met with little pecuniary success unless he added names to the cast, featuring conspicu

great producers of hi

uphold the drama, Lawrence Barrett and dear Edwin Booth, who lost a million in erecting a temple

spect; for what he did for the stage I have not. His performance of "Rip Van Winkle" was perhaps a very great one (I never saw Charles Burke).

Sir Lucius O'Trigger in "The Joseph Jefferson

that all those who made a