Library of Little Masterpieces In Forty-four Volumes LITTLE MASTERS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY: ACTORS (19th Century) Edited by GEORGE ILES VOLUME XXXVI 1 Table of Contents PREFACE 5 JOSEPH JEFFERSON 6 HOW I CAME TO PLAY RIP VAN WINKLE 7 THE ART OF ACTING 10 PREPARATION AND INSPIRATION 10 SHOULD AN ACTOR "FEEL" HIS PART 11 JOSEPH JEFFERSON IN MONTREAL: PLAYWRIGHTS AND ACTORS 13 THE JEFFERSON FACE 13 EDWIN BOOTH 15 TO HIS DAUGHTER: BOOTH'S THEATER, NEW YORK, November 15, 1871. 16 TO HIS DAUGHTER: CHICAGO, March 2, 1873. 16 TO HIS DAUGHTER: April 23, 1876. 17 TO HIS DAUGHTER: CHICAGO, October 9, 1886 17 TO HIS DAUGHTER: NEW YORK, January 5, 1888, 17 TO HIS DAUGHTER: DETROIT, April 04, 1890. 18 TO HIS DAUGHTER: THE PLAYERS, NEW YORK, March 22, 1891. 18 TO MISS EMMA F. CARY SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY, 1864. 19 TO MISS EMMA F. CARY [Three weeks after the assassination by his brother, John Wilkes Booth, of President Lincoln.] Saturday, May 6, 1865 20 TO MR. NAHUM CAPEN: [In response to an inquiry regarding his brother, John Wilkes Booth.] WINDSOR HOTEL, NEW YORK, July 28, 1881. 21 ADVICE TO A YOUNG ACTOR: [TO WALTER THOMAS] NEW YORK, August 28, 1889.21 CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN 23 AS A CHILD A MIMIC AND SINGER 24 FIRST VISITS TO THE THEATRE 24 PLAYS LADY MACBETH, HER FIRST PART 25 TO A YOUNG ACTRESS [PART OF A LETTER] 25 TO A YOUNG MOTHER [FROM A LETTER] 26 EARLY GRIEFS. ART HER ONLY SPOUSE [FROM A LETTER TO A FRIEND] 27 FAREWELL TO NEW YORK 28 CLARA MORRIS 29 SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH 30 THE MURDER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN 32 WHEN IN MY HUNT FOR A LEADING MAN FOR MR. DALY I FIRST SAW COGHLAN AND IRVING 34 SIR HENRY IRVING 42 THE STAGE AS AN INSTRUCTOR 43 2 INSPIRATION IN ACTING 43 ACTING AS AN ART. HOW IRVING BEGAN 44 FEELING AS A REALITY OR A SEMBLANCE 44 GESTURE. LISTENING AS AN ART. TEAM-PLAY ON THE STAGE 45 HENRY BRODRIBB IRVING 46 THE CALLING OF AN ACTOR 47 REQUIREMENTS FOR THE STAGE 47 TEMPTATIONS ON THE STAGE 48 ACTING IS A GREAT ART 49 RELATIONS TO "SOCIETY" 50 THE FINAL SCHOOL IS THE AUDIENCE 50 FAILURE AND SUCCESS 51 ELLEN TERRY 54 HAMLET--IRVING'S GREATEST PART 55 THE BIRMINGHAM NIGHT 55 THE ENTRANCE SCENE IN "HAMLET" 56 THE SCENE WITH THE PLAYERS 57 IRVING ENGAGES ME ON TRUST 57 HENRY IRVING 58 IRVING'S EGOTISM 58 IRVING'S SIMPLICITY OF CHARACTER 59 RICHARD MANSFIELD 60 MAN AND THE ACTOR 61 NAPOLEON AS ACTOR 61 THE GIFT FOR ACTING IS RARE 62 THE CREATION OF A CHARACTER 63 COPY LIFE 64 SELF-CRITICISM 64 DISCIPLINE IMPERATIVE 65 DRAMATIC VICISSITUDES 66 A NATIONAL THEATRE 66 TRAINING THE ACTOR 67 TOMMASO SALVINI 68 FIRST APPEARANCE 69 A FATHER'S ADVICE 70 HOW SALVINI STUDIED HIS ART 70 FAULTS IN ACTING 71 THE DESIRE TO EXCEL IN EVERYTHING 71 A MODEL FOR OTHELLO 72 FIRST TRIP TO THE UNITED STATES 72 IN CUBA 73 APPEARANCE IN LONDON 74 3 IMPRESSIONS OF IRVING'S "HAMLET" 74 THE DECLINE OF TRAGEDY 75 TRAGEDY IN TWO LANGUAGES 75 AMERICAN CRITICAL TASTE 77 IMPRESSIONS OF EDWIN BOOTH 78 ADELAIDE RISTORI 80 FIRST APPEARANCES 82 SALVINI AND ROSSI 83 APPEARS AS LADY MACBETH 83 AS MANAGER 84 FIRST VISIT TO AMERICA 84 BEGINS TO PLAY IN ENGLISH 85 THE ACTOR VALEDICTORY STANZAS TO J. P. KEMBLE, JUNE, 1817, BY THOMAS CAMPBELL 87 4 PREFACE A good play gives us in miniature a cross-section of life, heightened by plot and characterisation, by witty and compact dialogue. Of course we should honour first the playwright, who has given form to each well knit act and telling scene. But that worthy man, perhaps at this moment sipping his coffee at the Authors' Club, gave his drama its form only; its substance is created by the men and women who, with sympathy, intelligence and grace, embody with convincing power the hero and heroine, assassin and accomplice, lover and jilt. For the success of many a play their writers would be quick to acknowledge a further and initial debt, both in suggestion and criticism, to the artists who know from experience on the boards that deeds should he done, not talked about, that action is cardinal, with no other words than naturally spring from action. Players, too, not seldom remind authors that every incident should not only be interesting in itself, but take the play a stride forward through the entanglement and unravelling of its plot. It is altogether probable that the heights to which Shakespeare rose as a dramatist were due in a measure to his knowledge of how a comedy, or a tragedy, appears behind as well as in front of the footlights, all in an atmosphere quite other than that surrounding a poet at his desk. This little volume begins with part of the life story of Joseph Jefferson, chief of American comedians. Then we are privileged to read a few personal letters from Edwin Booth, the acknowledged king of the tragic stage. He is followed by the queen in the same dramatic realm, Charlotte Cushman. Next are two chapters by the first emotional actress of her day in America, Clara Morris. When she bows her adieu, Sir Henry Irving comes upon the platform instead of the stage, and in the course of his thoughtful discourse makes it plain how he won renown both as an actor and a manager. He is followed by his son, Mr. Henry Brodribb Irving, clearly an heir to his father's talents in art and in observation. Miss Ellen Terry, long Sir Henry Irving's leading lady, now tells us how she came to join his company, and what she thinks of Sir Henry Irving in his principal roles. The succeeding word comes from Richard Mansfield, whose untimely death is mourned by every lover of the drama. The next pages are from the hand of Tommaso Salvini, admittedly the greatest Othello and Samson that ever trod the boards. A few words, in closing, are from Adelaide Ristori, whose Medea, Myrrha and Phaedra are among the great traditions of the modern stage. From first to last this little book sheds light on the severe toil demanded for excellence on the stage, and reveals that for the highest success of a drama, author and artist must work hand in hand. 5 JOSEPH JEFFERSON [William Winter, the dramatic critic of the New York Tribune, in 1894 wrote the "Life and Art of Joseph Jefferson," published by the Macmillan Company, London and New York. He gives an account of Jefferson's lineage, and then says: "In Joseph Jefferson, fourth of the line, famous as Rip Van Winkle, and destined to be long remembered by that name in dramatic history, there is an obvious union of the salient qualities of his ancestors. The rustic luxuriance, manly vigour, careless and adventurous disposition of the first Jefferson; the refined intellect, delicate sensibility, dry humour, and gentle tenderness of the second; and the amiable, philosophic, and drifting temperament of the third, reappear in this descendant. But more than any of his ancestors, and more than most of his contemporaries, the present Jefferson is an originator in the art of acting.... Joseph Jefferson is as distinct as Lamb among essayists, or George Darley among lyrical poets. No actor of the past prefigured him, ... and no name, in the teeming annals of modern art, has shone with a more tranquil lustre, or can be more confidently committed to the esteem of posterity." The Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson, copyright, 1889, 1890, by the Century Company, New York, was published 1891. From its chapters, by permission, have been taken these pages.--ED.] Editor of e-book: Joseph Jefferson 1829-1905, American actor. He was the foremost of an old and distinguished family of English and American actors. Jefferson spent the first 20 years of his life as a strolling player. His fame came with his creation of the role of Rip Van Winkle in a dramatization of Washington Irving's story, first in 1859 and later in 1865 as revised by Dion Boucicault. He performed the second version almost exclusively until 1880. He infused the character with human tenderness and dignity and heightened the “fairy-tale” elements of the play. Almost as famous was his interpretation of Bob Acres in The Rivals, a part he played hundreds of times. He was one of the first star actors in America to establish his own road company, the earlier practice being to depend for support on local stock companies. Jefferson was a painter of merit and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1893 he succeeded Edwin Booth as president of the Players' Club, thus becoming the recognized dean of his profession. He retired in 1904. From the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright 2004 6 HOW I CAME TO PLAY RIP VAN WINKLE The hope of entering the race for dramatic fame as an individual and single attraction never came into my head until, in 1858, I acted Asa Trenchard in "Our American Cousin"; but as the curtain descended the first night on that remarkably successful play, visions of large type, foreign countries, and increased remuneration floated before me, and I resolved to be a star if I could. A resolution to this effect is easily made; its accomplishment is quite another matter. Art has always been my sweetheart, and I have loved her for herself alone. I had fancied that our affection was mutual, so that when I failed as a star, which I certainly did, I thought she had jilted me.