DEATH OF MR GEORGE LAURI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 69

DEATH OF MR GEORGE LAURI.

FAMOUS COMEDIAN COMMITS SUICIDE. SYDNEY, January 5. George Lauri, tha comedian, who has been in ill-health for some time, committed suicide at Bayview, near Manly, to-day. He cut his throat with a razor, and died 6horUy afterwards. '"Oh ! yes," I belong to a theatrical family — one of the oldest," so remarked the late Mr George Lauri to a Sydney interviewer recently. "My father, John Lauri, was ballet master at the Alhamb^a; my cousin, Charles Lauri, one of the best animal impersonators on the stage; and my cou?in Edward — well, he was in Australia, and you know. Our family werepaTiiomimists, and no Drury Lane pantomime went on without them. Wfifen did I begin my theatrical careor? At the age of nin-c in the Grand Opera Houss, New York. Pete Hughes — poor Pete ; yes, he's gone — was in the office, and Leon Caron, who, too, has passed away, was first violin in the- orchestra. Charley and I were playing monkeys in 'King Carat' ; but my father did not want me to go on the stage. Yes, all prcs. seem, to raise that objection; so he sent me off to school. Thera I did the best acting in my life; for I contrived to make the masters believe that I was devoted to my studies, and I even annexed three prizes at the end of the year. But I was yearning to g2t on the stage, and looking/ forward to the time when I would reappear. But my father had other plans, and said that as I had been so successful I would be given an opportunity of continuing the earnest work I had begun, so I was apprenticed to an architect, with whom I remained three years. I may say that so much was my mind bent on the stage that I managed to get surreptitious engagements as a singer and dancer in shows which my iolk would not have thought of taking on. Anyway when I finished with the architect I could not tell an epitithides from a gargoyle, and my father thought the best thing he could do was to let me have my own way and go on ths stage. I spent a number of years in his company, and the practice I obtained there in dancing has stood to mo ■very well since. "Was I a comedian from the beginning? No. I had no idea that I would ever develop into that, but you see it is the unexpected that often happens, and iier^ I am. a comedy actor, and I suppose I shall continue on until the end. In the be£inninc>- I used to play anything; William in 'Black-eyed Susan ' was one of mv parts; but I suppose, as you say, it all me?nt a good training. I remember, duvin? what I shall call my prohibited days, that I appeared at the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton— Mrs Lanes, -in.l it was from that theatre T was married when I was but 21. My wife and I played in one piece, 'A Bunch of Keys,' for about six years. It was. however, only after I had played for some time in various classes of drama that I dropped -nto comic opera. I went to ' the United Stands with Marie Tempest, in the original 'Dorothy' Company, in which I played Lurcher, a part I am very sweet on ; My longest run was in 'A Bunch of Keys, b\ C II Hovt, and a member of the company was the late Willie Edouin. Oh! yes I have travelled all over America; and it was there that Mr J. C. Williamson saw me and offered me an engagement, which I accepted. Am I glad? Rather, and my long residence in Australia has made me regard myself as being as good an Australian as anybody. "What was I playinpr when Mr \\ illiamson =aw me? The Grand Inquisitor in 'The Gondoliers.' We came to terms, but before T started for Australia I took that ame Gilbert and Sullivan opera round he Southern Slates. And during that tour I had an experience, but 111 come to lhat later on. My first appearanco in Melbourne was in 'The Merry Monarch, with the late 'Bill>' Elton. I armed in December. 1891. and I eventually took the position that Etlon had in comic ojj* a for he returned Home. I afterwards played in 'La Citfale' with Marie Haltou, and from that time up to the present I have been in all the musical comedies and comic operas which Mr Williamson has staged. And Shakespeare, too? Why, yes; I was Fluellen in George Rignold's production )f 'Henry V.' under Mr Williamsons nanagement, and my old comrade, Howard Vernon, was Pistol. What is my favqurte part? Well, I should say Jack Point, v 'f he Yeoman of tho Guard,' and Hassan n 'The Rose of Persia' ; but. as I told •ou. I have the greatest liking for Lur- j ' "Oh! you want that experience? ' I nought I had you side-tracked. Well, here tis I was in Alabama. It was the only >cca«ion in my life in which I figured in v,hat might have been a ical tragedy and he only time in which anyone pulled a gun' on me. You smile! Oh! I wasn t ic+ing. It was only my mariellous preen cc of mind that saved my hfo. It wm his waj : In one town we got the theatre rom the sheriff on the percentage ba=is. The Gondoliers' -caught on, a.ul the busiless went big. Then— curious, isn t it, it va? called th» 'Gors Dollars' in the Scales -the sheriff blew in, and said that a clerical •nor had been made in tho agreement, and I hat I should get only CO per cent, of the akines, instead of 85. " 'No,' said I— 'Bs ncr cent.' "'Eighty,' leplhd he with *in aggravatn^ drawl. '• "Eighty-fit c,' I maintained quite suirlilv. , . "'Think,* ho drawled, even more slowly. "At tho word •think' the sheriff pulled , rom his pocket a 'gun.' about 18in in | en^th. and calmly and deliberately rested t on the table with the muzzle towards me. j "' 'Eighty.' came slowly from his lips. j '• 'Eighty,' said T, after a lightning cal- j ■ulafcion about muzzle ■velocity, and so on. j Eighty: you're right.' I " 'I thought, remarked the sheriff. 'tlLat ouv. meon-ory would not. fail at the critical 'and he strolled out eating l±ie cigar. .

"I had been long 1 enough in America," continued Mr Lauri, "to know exactly the status of a sheriff. He is an absolute autocrat; but I didn't find out till after wards that this particular sheriff was a known 'bad' man. He had, it seems, procured his election by announcing that he would shoot anyone else who dared to accept the position. Result, a walk-over at the election. ''In my career," Mr Lauri went on to say, "I have mot all sorts of persons, and 'had many experiences. Well, the only time I really saw anyone in a bad temper was when Mr Bracy and I had an argument at rehearsal over the correct pronunciation of a French word. As one after another came on to the stage wo appealed to each for guidance; but the tangle grew worse. Finally, the late Leon Caron, the only Frenchman in tho place, and the only person wo had not asked, could contain himself no longer. He bounced up from his ohair in the orchestra, and exclaimed indignantly, 'Ha! what am I? Am I a Chinaman, or what, that you do not appeal to me'! 1 "'That reminds me that I studied tho Chinese both in America and Australia from a make-up point of view, and I was so successful that I ones had a tomahawk thrown •at me. It. was at the time of a Chinese faction row. My dr&ssing-room overlooked a lane where a number of Chinamen lived. We were playing 'Ibe (re.sha,' and I was ready one afternoon to go ov as Wutn Hi. I looked out of the window, and saw a Chinaman in the street with something under lm jumper. As soon as he saw me ho yelled out something in Chinese, to which I replied. TJwin he seemed to get angry, and made heated remarks. As he g-ot closer I returned the compliment by bestowing on him my broadest smile. Than he suddenly pulled cut a big- tomahawk, and flung it through the window at my head. You see, he knew all his own side, "and assumed that I belonged to the other secret society, and was spying on him. I kept th' 3 tomahawk as a memento. No, he did not come to claim it. 1 " Will I give you an opinion about the Australian chorus and ballet':" repeated Mr Lauri. ''With pleasure. Nowhere else in the v.orld can there be found choruses with tha same beauty, voice-s, and education as those in Australia. As for the ballets — well, , there are 710 dancers in the world like the Australian girls. No, I do not think that k> due to climaitic or instinctive- talent, or anything of that nature, but simply am'sea from the fact that when g-.rls in ofchar parts of the world show grca f proficiency in dar.cing, they are 6ocn able to get engagements as solo dancers.. Bu>t here the market is limited, sc they have to remain in the ballet. The coneequemco is that nearly a whole ballet is composed of girls who would be starred as leaders of solo dancers m Europe. Such intelligence is- shown, by the girls in the chorus that the difficulty is to select those suitable for parts. Since , my residence in Australia a number have taken leading- positions with success. The women of Australia do make a batter showing on 1b? stage than the m?n, but that is a workl-wide experience. The stcsxkrd of the Australian actor and actress has, however, beea strongly impi-oving, and I do not think it will be long before this country i 3 in a position to supply its own wants. Will that do? Ye*:. Then goodbye." And Mr Lauri went away to make preparations for bis health-seeking taip. I Now he's dead ! y