STAGE TO MILK BAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22949, 29 January 1938, Page 20

STAGE TO MILK BAR

ACTRESS' NEW WORK

SPIRIT OF LONDON LIGHTS [from a special cobkkspondent] LONDON, Jan. 1 Many Anstrnlians will remember Miss Ada Reeve, who returned to England two years ago. Miss Reeve, who was Charijo Chaplin's first stage sweetheart, is now acting as "hostess" at a London milk bar. "I don't want to finish my lifo huddled over a fireside, thinking of what tho past has been," she said. "In this job I meet old and new faces and recapture some ol' the spirit that goes with tho lights of London. I have not given up the stage. The Btage has given up me. But I havo never had to ask for a job, and X never will." Independence, vitality, charm and talent, the qualities which made Miss I?eeve a "top-liner" earning £3OO a week, are still there. Her hair is greying, but her smile and her voice are youthful. Once Miss Reevo received £SOO as damages because her name had not been billed in large enough type. "When I came back from Australia I plaved one small part and appeared in a cabaret," she said. "The London I know was disappearing; and when they started to pull down Daly's Theatre I had a good cry. But I still have my friends, my memories and my health. I. am not regretful. I will not just fade away. That is why I act as a 'hostess.' It is something to do."