LATE HUGH WARD

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 181, 29 April 1941, Page 10

LATE HUGH WARD

Memories Of Comedian

(By

H.P.)

Everyone liked Hugh Ward, actor and manager, who died recently. There was an exhilarating buoyancy, a spirit of fun and youth about the little comedian that even the years could not kill He always enjoyed a good yarn, and could always tell one in return. There was a dry Yankee drollery in his manner, a whimsical twist of the mouth and glint in the eye that gave effect to the point of his story. Ao actor would dare tell the story of 'the boat sails next Wednesday” alter hearing Hugh Ward tell it. There are still those in Wellington who remember the "Girl from Hector's” incident In its course the Rev. Dr. Gibb, ot the Presbyterian Church, spoke against this bright little comedy and its players and. every time. Hugh J. Ward popped up and launched fun and frolic at the • churchman, with never a suspicion ot malice or even acrimony. The controversy raged for a week or so, and everyone in Wellington laughed and was intrigued. Wellington got its childrens hospital out of the fray, so both the late Dr. Gibb and Mr. Ward deserve honourable mention for so vehemently coming to the rescue. To show Hugh Ward’s goodness ot heart it should be mentioned that the Wellington Children’s Hospital was not his only good deed in that direction. He was instrumental in bringing to a head a similar project in Perth, W.A.; his charitable work in Dunedin is not forgotten for the hospital autboiities there, and he came across from Sydney to help the Karitane Hospital effort in Wellington. These things should count to his credit. What a boy he was!. 1 can remember on one occasion in Sydney he told me that he had purchased a property, and begged me to come and see it. Consenting, he at once hailed a taxi, and in 10 minutes were in Wild Street, a few minutes’ walk from King's Cross. There was a high stone wall for a fence, and, as Hugh.had forgotten the k ev —h e was like that —he asked me for “a leg up.” I gave him one; then he pulled me up. It was a lovely old home dating back 70 or 80 years perhaps, which had been allowed to go to wreck and ruin. Ploughing our way through the. tall weeds, we broke into the house which was dated and in a ruinous condition inside and out. He would alter it all. It would be a real home, with a grand drawing-room and music-room, a dais for the grand piano and organ, and everything up to date. When I returned to Sydney two years later Hugh’s dream had come true. It was a lovely home, richly furnished, with a pleasant zig-zag path leading down to his own stone wall-enclosed sea-bath, and a lovely view overlooking Rusheutter’s Bay—a Sydney beauty spot. Later, with the demand for flats in that locality, Hugh demolished the old home altogether, and erected a block of modern flats. It was in Wellington that Hugh Ward received the cable inviting him to join the directorate of J. C. Williamson, Limited. The excitement and laughter of that day still remains a bubbling memory with me. There were times when Hugh J. Ward was not perhaps a blossoming phiianthrophist —he loved publicity. He loved making little speeches to his public—and they liked it, too —-but beneath the surface and the show he was a good fellow, and a fine trouper, to whom "the ivory gates and golden” should be wide open.