Life — August 4, 1898 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CHEMIST, : APTER HAVING MIXED HE PROFESH. The term actor is a broad and comprehensive one, covering every- thing from the gentleman who eats carpet tacks and chimney lamps to the potentate who drips gorg in Macbeth; from the lady with tho yellow head and brick-red voice to the mortuary heroine in tho tuber- culosis drama, The terminology used in connection with tho player's exploitation indicates his standing in Thespian circles; but the niche in the temple of fame selected by him for his permanent abiding placo is seldom the one allotted to him by that unfeeling janitor of the building, the public, The titles und adjectives of the actor are usually in the inverse ratio to his merit, for, in this age of brass and adulter- ation, ink has been found to be an excellent substitute for genius. . . * HE actor begins his career as Jimmy Jugs, the famous, in- vincible, unsurpassed and unap- Proachable American vocalist and Graeco-Roman comedian ; he passes upward and onward as James Jugs, the star terpsichorean artist and Singer; he progresses to Jags, the only Jags, the leading comedian of _ “LIE: farce comedy ; thence forward to Mr. James Jags, with his own carefully-selected orgun= ization in an American character drama; and he reaches the dizzy dignity of famo, interviews and syndi- cate portraits as Mr. Jags, ap- pearing in reflned English com- edy—with an occasional flyer at the bumor of the late Mr, Shake- speare—under the chaperonage of some distinguished exile from Palestine, As Jimmy Jags ho moved the gallery to Homeric mirth by pungent references to the Bard of Avon as a “stuff” and @ “has-been;” but as Mr, Jags he patronizes American manufacturers of drama, keeps his own special Hebrew padrone, and jestingly acknowledges to the 93 pagne, and artless portraits In minor monthlies; she acquires the idolatry of callow clubmen and the fame of continu- ous performances in marriage and divorce; but she is now Miss Maggio Millingham, As she accumulates years, fat, and experi- ence, her bair resumes its normal hue, ber small singing voice is placed on file, the pathos of her mother songs remains in her throat for emotional emergencies, her anderploning is coyly shrouded in long dra- peries, and she does outraged maidens and broken-hearted young mothers to shivery music as Miss Margaret Millingham, When sho snares a retired grocer, with moro dollars than sense, and with a wild passion for dramatic art and handmade beauty, sho will storm second-class cities with an ancient and honorable band of artists, and, by the genius of a persistent and parlous press agent, compel the homage of the Now Jerusalem Stage Syndicate, Then, as Miss Millingham, sho will takea hack at Rosalind and Juliet; she will fearlessly as- sault and batter Ophelia and Lady Macbeth; ber portraits will sell for a quarter; and she may torture the public in a star aggregation with the haughty Mr, Jags. > This is Fame. Sho ts now gazed upon with awe by tho fakirs and padrones; her do- mestic infelicities overshadow the Monroo doctrine; she is in domand for testimonials to soaps, tooth washes, bicycles and malt products; and she views her name in 1 ADD THE NECESSARY AMOUNT OF SUL- PUUR, official appraisers of the Trust that there are only a fow of us left who can interpret. the noble masterpieces of English comedy. . . . HE begins her mad and merry life in murky music halls, in short skirts, short sketches and short bair— ochre-toned; a small singing voice, a large head, and a bombproof nerve and digestion, As Maggio Millingham she storms the gallery with the activity of her fect, and pumps its tears with tho penetrative anguish of her mother songs. In Rice opera and burlesque she achieves bill-boards, liaisons, cham- THUS PRODUCING SH*0*FeC, AND—