THEATRELAND

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 133, 3 December 1930, Page 18

THEATRELAND

TALES OF FORTY YEARS

SEYMOUR HICKS REMEMBERS

AMUSING ROYALTY

Tlie true story of tho events which led to tho murder of William Torriss, tho actor, at the st&ge door of the old Adelphi Theatro has been told for the first time in a book o£ memoirs by Mr. Seymour Hicks, Terriss's sou-in-lan', says tho "Morning Post." Tlio book is a store of memories or.' great figures of the past as well as a. record o£ the lighter side of.Mr. Hicks' life during tho id years in which he has been before the public. Tho Terriss murder was apparently the indirect result of a practical joke on the part of a certain "Mr. A." This was probably the late Mr. W. L. Abing<lon, since at the tiuio of the tragedy this actor was playing the part of the villain in "One of the Best," the piece then running at the Adelphi. Mr. Abingdon had, it seems, amused himself fey encouraging Prince —the still surviving murderer, now a criminal lunatic at Broadmoor—in the idea that he could act the hero's part just as well as Terriss. Prince was at that time a j "super." To please Prince, Mr. Abingdon had the part of the hero typed | for him to learn, and went so far as to arrange a comic rehearsal. At'the end of,the ;un of "One of tho_ Best," Prince was, thrown out of work iind, having borrowed a sovereign from William Terriss learned that his appli- j cation to the Actors' Benevolent Fund for assistance had been refuser]! He inquired the name of thu chairman, and was told, it was Terry (i.e., Kdward Terry). Ho understood tbe numo given him was Terriss—the name which was always uppermost in his thoughts. "Bind with fury,-he purchased a butcher's knife, determined to end the lit'o of a perfectly unsuspecting man, who had never done an unkind action in all his life to any human being."

A "GAIETY" SONG.

A happy chapter of the book is that devoted to the late King Edward and Queen Alexandra, of both of whom Mr. Hicks has many reminiscences. His first appearance before Queen Alexandra, then Princess of Wales, at a dance at Cadogan House, was, he confesses, a terribly nervous ordeal. This was partly because he had been asked to sing some songs from "The Shop Girl," in which he was then appearing at the Gaiety Theatre. These were of what was then considered a rather daring order, and it was suggested that before singing them he should repeat tho lines to tho Princess herself, in case j there was anything she would object to. The result was that Mr. Hicks had to stand in front of a row; (f( august diplomats and ladies-in-waiting and "spl-omnly-recite" such classic lines as:— j Oh! Flo, What a change you know, When she left the village she was shy, But, alas! and alack, She came back, With a naughty little twinkle in her eye. "The Princess," he adds, "who was suffering from' a severe cold and did not catch half of what I had recited, most kindly said she thought the words charming and begged me to have no misgivings." Wo have some extremely agreeable glimpses of King Edward himself, thoughtfully handing Mr. Hicks two cigars so that he could keep one and smoke the other, and coming to inspect the private stago at Sandringham, where musical comedy had to be performed with an orchestra in another room the conductor putting his head through the fireplace and beating time with his foot.

WITH MEREDITH.

"The pomp of Court was absent/ 5 Mr. Hicks writes, "and the King in a tweed suit, with rather muddy boots, standing among a group of stage hands, and talking about our work in our way, seemed so natural and so charming. ' "I don't mean to say I expected His Majesty, to speak blank .verse, but to hear yqur King say, 'I hope you have got all you want,' and 'Have these men been properly looked after, and had enough to eat?' and little remarks of that kind, made one feel it was indeed fine to be an Englishman and sing 'God save? ..such a-man." ; During his early days with' Toole in "Walker, London," and other plays, Mr. Hicks had many memorable adventures. 'One of the things he is proudest of is that Sir Henry Irving, to whom he was introduced by Toole, took him on one occasion to spend a day with George Meredith at Box Hill. Of the visit to Meredith Mr. Hicks only remembers one observation. Irving asked Meredith what he thought of the young actresses of the day. "Not very much," answered Meredith. "Most of them are vulgar young ladies who laugh" from their stomachs." About Toole, of course,-Mr. Hicks has endless stories, among them that of Toole removing the "Please-Take-One" ticket from a leaflet-bos at Victoria Station and putting it on the sandwiches in the bar.

QUICK RETORTS,

The book contains a little known story about Charles Brookfield, who on one occasion was at his club with some actors. The group was talking rather more noisily than necessary, and Wortley, the artist, who entered, remonstrated with them. "I wish you actors wouldn't make such a noise," the artist snapped. "We can always see you for half a crown any evening." "I know you can," said Brookfield, "and I thought I could see you at the Academy to-day for a shilling, but I didn't." Charles Hawtrey's witty reply to the Official Keeeiver during his bankruptcy proceedings is recalled. "Now, then, Mr. Hawtrcy," said the Official Receiver, "What is the beginning of your financial year?" "Oh," replied Charles, with a sweet smile, "every infernal day." The author knew Oscar Wilde well, and one of the most interesting passages in the book is his account of the trial at which he was present. He describes Wilde as a man of "geutlcness and distinction," as. well as a "great wit and an extraordinary personality." "There is no shadow of doubt," Mr. Hicks writes, "that Oscar. Wilde's personality was a dual one. Neither the -life of Dubose . and Lesurques, nor that.of Jekyll and Hyde, was further removed one from the other than his." , Here is one of the best Wilde stories: Who can forget his answer to the gushing bore of a lady who, after five minutes' continual talk with AVilde staring rather blankly at her, said, "But Mr. Wilde, I don't think you remember mo. I am Mrs. Smith." "Of course you are," said Wilde. "How delightful it must be for you to ba Mrs. Smith. How stupid of me. I always remember your name, but I can never think of your face."

A BOKE REBUKED.

I Hatry nearly persuaded the author to leave the stage and join him in the City at a guaranteed minimum salary of £30,000 a year. One of tho most crushing rebukes ever given to a bore was that administered by the late Hurry Higgins, which Mr. Hicks relates: His classic retnavk to a big-gnnic hunter irho had been boasting of his

prowess with tho rifle, much to the annoyance of a party of long-suffering men at supper, was the most charming silencer evev made. The hunter was continuing his stream of uninteresting anecdotes unceasingly, and was describing his shooting of a very fine lion in the following words. "Imagine," he said, "tho predicament I found myself in. Here was I in. a clearing in the jungle all alone with no means of retreat. In front of me was a roaring lion and behind me a yawning chasm." "Really," said Harry Higgins, "that must have been awful, but are you sure tho chasm -was yawning as much before you arrived?" Perhaps the pleasantest of all the tributes in the book is that to Mr. Hicks's very early comrades, "sweet Violet, and dear Irene Vmibrugh."