O THE llBRAUr OF e !h \ m\ 3fT JoiSBjAiNn 3m o THE UNIVERSITY q as B < iANTA BARBARA «. jo *,stf»2i) awi y AiisaawNn ina / me uNtvERsiTv o O THE IIBRARY OF o o C ^g 09 n lANTA eARBARA « o viNdOjno io o. X WINVS o o THE llBRARY OF o 9 ^s si C^ P) kUS83AINn 3H1 o. o viNi)OJJlV3 iO o niwaava vinvs o O Of CAllFORNIA o -4 9 5fi "> laisuaAiNn am "^ >«i-in:>l nrLi ~ jANIA BARBA(?A / tW UNIVERSITY o o V!lv9HVa WiNWS o IJirl? llfjWNii irolc THE LIFE OF A STAR THE LIFE OF A STAR BY CLARA MORRIS AUTHOR OF LIFE ON THE STAGE NEW YORK McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. MCMVI Copyright^ I go 6^ by McClure, Phillips ds" Co. Publiihed May, igo6 Copyright, 1905, by International Magazine Company Copyright, 1905, by The Curtis Publishing Company Copyright, 1904-1905, by The New York Herald Company Copyright, 1902-1903-1904-1905, by The S. S. McClure Company Copyright, 1903-1904, by Cosmopolitan Publishing Company TO STARS those sister ivomen who tasted sorrow and defeat before they won success, I dedi- cate these memories with a clasp of the hand, and the hope that they may reign long and happily. CLARA MORRIS . — PREFACE To all those who were kindly patient readers of that " first book, Life on the Stage," greeting—sincere and grateful greeting. Since then I have at least learned enough of the great profession of letters to be afraid. That first book was calmly offered out of the boundless courage of perfect ignorance—this one is held out to you in a hand unsteadied by a tumultuous and most anxious heart. Feeling that interest in my personal story must have ended with girlhood's successful struggle for air and light and an equal chance with others, it seemed best, after noting my marriage, about which some of the gentlest critics thought I showed " a curious reserve," to devote most of my space to mem- ories of people, more likely to prove interesting to the world at large. That these memories are such mere " shreds and patches " is the fault of a star's manner of life. Never does she pass more than two weeks in a city oftener but one; thus a meeting, a greeting, and a part- ing about describes her existence. And the conse- quence, in this instance, is a book that suggests one of those small kaleidoscopes, dear to our childhood, viii PREFACE wherein those short sketches of mine become the bits of coloured glass—green for hope, blue for faith, red for courage, purple for power—and in placing it in your hands, I can only hope that, aided by your good will and Imagination, the many coloured bits may slip into patterns and images that are pleasing to the eye without being wholly an optical illusion. CONTENTS PAGE I. An Actress on Guard 3 11. I Am Married 21 III. I Stand between Lady Macbeth and Matrimony 37 IV. The Moxa 55 V. Riddle of the Nineteenth Century: Mr. Henry Bergh 69 VI. Sarah Siddons's Tryst 93 VII. Garfield 103 VIII. The Shadow of the Temple . 115 IX. Brilliant Failures 136 X. A Crucial Moment ...... 146 XI. Rachel 168 XII. The Mormon Banquo 191 XIII. Major McKinley—A Memory . 204 XIV. A Convert to the Play 218 XV. A Chip of the Old Confederacy: JuBAL A. Early 233 XVI. A Hunt for a Play 253 XVII. Some Reminiscences of L. Q. C. Lamar 278 XVIII. Looking Backward 295 XIX. Alessandro Salvini 308 XX. From Sand-Dune to Mountain-Top . 329 XXI. A Memory of Dion Boucicault . 352 ix THE LIFE OF A STAR — AN ACTRESS ON GUARD WHEN a young actress struggling for the highest place attains it; when she has made a great and sudden success in a part, and the play is settling into its stride for a long run, people suppose her position is settled and secure for years to come. They imagine her triumphant, free from care or anxiety of any kind, sinking to rest, wrapped, as it were, in clouds of glory, only to arise to delicate feeding and deep draughts from cups of praise; for, you see, she has made a great hit; the struggle is past and she has nothing now to fear, they think. And right here I should like to carol a few light notes of incredulity tra-la-la! Because in one case, at least, it was all so different; and I know, oh, yes, I know quite well—for see now, there were two special nights, and on one, at eight o'clock, a girl, wide-eyed, poorly dressed, just out of the great West, and absolutely without one friend in it, faced New York City in chill terror. The next night, at eight o'clock, the same girl faced pleased recognition in a myriad of beaming eyes; a forest of outstretched hands and a sea-like roar of welcome that shook her to the heart. I know, because I was that girl. Well, that was success—unadulterated, amazing success; and for a little time I rested upon it, con- tent, happy, and very grateful—but not dazzled, not 4 THE LIFE OF A STAR cniijrht up in golden clouds, not overpowered as by a miracle. And I noticed the odd looks that were turned upon me after curtain calls, overheard com- ments as to the " easiness " with which I took this success, and as to my awful lack of appreciation, cold bloodedness, etc. And while they wondered at me, so I wondered at them ; for in my verdant young ig- norance this was my true thought : Why do they make such a to-do over this? I acted in Cleveland and in Cincinnati, and did my best, and people cried and gave me calls; and here I have a good part, and do my best, and the people forgive the burr in my speech, and cry, and applaud. What's the difference? I see nothing so wonderful ! Oh, dear heaven ! Oh, loyal and woolly little Westerner! Yet that was my true thought. Then one day one high in the journalistic world sent me an enormous number of papers from far and wide, from Canada to Florida, from east to west, and lo ! each and every one of them had reprinted at a column's length, each of the New York papers' ex- pressed opinion of the Western actress's debut in the metropolis. Many had editorial comment as well, and then, Indeed, my calm was shaken. A great awe crept over me. Well I knew I was of no interest to all the readers these papers represented. It was New York, the great, the powerful, the nerve-centre of this whole broad land, and New York's opinion, that interested the entire country. Had the metropolis gibed at me, contemptuous laughter at my ludicrous presumption would have run north, south, and west — — AN ACTRESS ON GUARD 5 like the crackling of thorns in the fire. My knees trembled at the thought. My simple trust in my own honest best was gone. All my careful study in trying to make one scene seem the logical outcome of an- other seemed wasted. I had suddenly been lifted high into popularity by the whim of the first city in the land—powerful, brilliant, changeable. Ah, there was the rub changeable! I had sprung up in a single night. What had happened once might easily happen again. I knew no more of security. From that mo- ment I began to peer into the future, watching for the woman there just out of sight who waited for my shoes; and I straightway resolved never to be dragged down from the high place that had been given me, but at the first sign of frown or weariness to descend at once, without tear or remonstrance, showing only gratitude for what had been. And there and then began that interminable chain of prayers with which I wearied heaven, that I might be pre- pared; that when my successor came I might feel no resentment, no bitterness, no rancour. And to show how near this came to being a fixed Idea with me, as for the first time in my life I had weeks without rehearsals,—I at once took up certain studies, under teachers, that when my place was taken by another, widened and varied interests might lessen the chance of heartbreak. Having then got around to the view- point of the ladies of the company, I tried to show them my new appreciation of the marvel of my suc- cess, here in their city, and they seemed much grati- fied. One evening, as we waited in the greenroom, : 6 THE LIFE OF A STAR the conversation turned upon the many prominent actors and actresses New York had—to use the green- room vocabulary—" sat down upon." Someone named Ehza Logan, who had been held as one of the greatest actresses of her time, but her disastrous appearance here, at her husband's theatre, was said to have broken her heart. " " Ah, but she was so ugly to look at I said one of the older ladies. " Something very near genius, but. " Lord, how ugly! " Well," I said, " there was Miss Julia Dean," and was roughly interrupted by the one person in the company who was systematically unkind to me with " " You know nothing of Julia Dean ! " Of course I do not know her personally," I an- swered, " but through Mr.