Life — November 23, 1928 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

6 Lier THE MAIN STEM Dear Pat. Witcarp: They call it senti- mentalism around this Winchell man’s town when people who are human bend a little, stop putting on the dog, and act their age. I was reading in the papers only the other day about Will Rogers, who gags about famous people and makes them like it. Rogers, in case your home town dramatic department hasn't so recorded yet, learned that his best pal, Fred Stone, the actor, crashed in a plane and was pretty badly hurt. Mr. Stone’s | new show was in rehearsal at the time and without him, or a substitute as good, couldn't possibly open, thus throwing hundreds of players temporarily out of work. . So Mr. Rogers insisted upon pinch- hitting for Mr. Stone, cancelling many hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth ifn Zhou Wyn, of Chautauqua and cinema contracts at the same time. What a guy! Well, it seems that Rogers knocked them dead when the show opened and he still does, for that matter, with his wilting cracks about the big shots, politics and this or that. They adored him and rocked with | laughter at his stuff. But when he went into a real soft-shoe dance with Fred's dotter, Dorothy, the spectators lost their breath. He certainly is first-rate and all the New York critics gave him sugary notices. But what I started out to tell you was that Lindbergh was sitting in the second row at the premitre and Rogers, who promised Lindy that he wouldn't call the audience’s attention to him, kept his word. Which anybody'll tell you no other} actor would have done. The next day a reporter called on Rogers in his dressing- room for a story. The reporter was amazed when the star instructed the stage doorman to permit all comers into his room. He gabbed with Negro actors who called for his autograph; gave funds to professional gate-crashers and photos to] admirers, and otherwise acted so human and different from other big timers. The night before, Will’s dressing-room after the show had been crowded with his high and mighty admirers, come to thank him for giving them a good time. Would] , Lime Witte (during news-reel views of “Dress Parade at West Point”): Oh, Mama! They're showing pictures of the school where all the ushers come from. Tastow Newsrarer Sevier: Extra feature tonight, folks! Two murders for the price of one! you like to know who some of them |were, Willard? Well, there was Lind- |bergh, for one; and there was the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Mr. Taft; and there was Old Bill | Hart, accompanied by James Montgomery 2 and there was Tommy Hitchcock, ~|the greatest polo player in the world, and Grantland Rice, the sportlight, and Ina But Will didn’t say anything about them to the reporter. All he could think of was that he once came to that same dressing-room in that same theater, seven- teen years ago, when he was small-timing it with a horse and rope. And the room | was occupied then by two big stars, Dave Montgomery and Fred Stone, who were |kind to this unknown dumb act from Oklahoma named Rogers. “I'm not’ one of those actors,” said Rogers, “who believe that they will be clicking or making good three years from |now. All I know is that I got a good break in my life and I am grateful. Fred and Dave helped me seventeen years ago and I'll never forget it. What makes me |so sad is looking at that chair over there. That's where Montgomery, one of the greatest fellows that ever lived, used to sit jand this chair was Fred’s. I sure have been lucky.” Is that refreshing relief from the other |type who is always bragging about his achievements? Here’s a man, who 1s a0 institution, a great star, a person with a spotless reputation, and a man_ whose words are respected by monarchs, who finds time to think back to seventeen years comicbooks.com