THE OLDER STARS OF HOLLYWOOD

Southland Times, Issue 23946, 12 October 1939, Page 14

THE OLDER STARS OF HOLLYWOOD

Character Actors Find

New Careers

Life did not really begin until forty or more for many of Hollywood’s most famous personalities, says a film correspondent of The Sydney Morning Herald. All the following actors are forty and over, and they are just enjoying their greatest successes:—Wallace Beery, Beulah Bondi, Warner Baxter, Fay Bainter, Alice Brady, W. C. Fields, Charles Chaplin, Adolphe Menjou, Frank Lloyd, Cecil B. De Mille, Lionel and John Barrymore, William Powell, Paul Muni, Billie Burke, Edward Ellis, Henry Davenport, Frank Morgan, Edward Arnold and dozens of others, among them the biggest names and stars in the motion picture indusis not exclusively for youth, in spite of all the youth propaganda that emanates from studio publicity departments and the motion picture success race is not always to the swift. .... One of the best examples of this is Charles Chaplin, who at 49 is about to make his first talking picture—and the whole world is anxiously waiting to see and hear him. Actually, Charlie is starting a new career when most others would think of retiring to the armchair, and I think he is about to reach his greatest triumphs because the world today is in sore need of laughs. Charlie, by the way, intends to lampoon both Hitler and Mussolini in his first talkie, Just look at tough old Wallace Beery, who now is riding high on the wave of Hollywood success. At fifty he is a bigger star than ever before, and this year will be his thirty-fifth in show business. Three times Beery has been finished in pictures, according to critics, but each time he has come back to confound them. Then there is lovable Lewis Stone, whom I can remember as one of the “great lovers,” of the silent screen. At sixty he is giving us the full benefit of his vast stage and screen experience in delightful down-to-earth portrayals as Judge Hardy in the Hardy Family series. Lewis was on his way out when this Hardy chance came. Age did not stop him from grabbing the opportunity with both fists. I believe that Lewis at sixty has a greater following than he did when he was a much younger man.

ACADEMY WINNERS That charming actress, Fay Bainter, who moved audiences so deeply by her grand performance in “White Banners and “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” became a full-fledged star for her work in “White Banners,” and she is 47 years old. Life has just begun for this great actress. She was an Academy Award nominee for “White Banners’ and “Jezebel,” and now she is in demand at every studio. Alice Brady last year won the Academy Award for her great role in “In Old Chicago,” and she had turned 47. This performance opened new fields for this talented woman, and now she is going on to greater things as she rushes towards the fifty mark. Cecil Blount De Mille, to give him his full title, will celebrate his fifty-eighth birthday this year, and he still is one of Hollywood’s great directors. He directed “Union Pacific” from a stretcher, because he was too ill to stand on his feet. But he is still in there holding up his wicket and scoring boundaries. De Mille has no time to think of age, and has already begun to prepare other big pictures to follow this one. Frank Morgan, great comedian and character actor, has just been elevated to stardom by M.G.M., and he was 49 on June 1. His brother, Ralph Morgan, two years older, is in greater demand than ever before, and is not far behind his more illustrious brother in dramatic talent. I think we can all raise our hats to Lionel Barrymore, for at 61 this grand old trouper is doing some of his greatest work. He is unable to get about without the aid of either crutches or sticks, depending on how bad his arthritis is. His doctors have warned him against continuing to work, to which he snorts: “I’d sooner be dead than not

he working.” And he goes on defying all his advisers and pleasing millions of fans with his performances. When he was on crutches in “You Can’t Take It With You,” and in a wheel-chair in “Young Dr Kildare,” he was not just acting a part. He was unable to get about without those devices—but he carried on and did his best work to date. Perhaps we might just tip the brim of our hats to his brother John, who was down and almost out a few years ago. Today he is right back on top again, sought after by every studio in Hollywood. At fifty-one he has made a really grand recovery.

EDWARD ELLIS Just a few months ago an old actor nearing the 70 mark played a role that

will leave his name remembered in screen history, and probably will be the standard by which all character parts will be judged in future. I refer to Edward Ellis, who gave such a magnificent performance as the old country doctor in “A Man to Remember.” It was the best part the old actor had had since that of the judge in “Winterset, but he made the most of it, and Hollywood is clamouring for his services. A new life has opened for Ellis almost at the end of his years. We cannot forget May Robson, who is in her seventies, and is now a star in her own right. A broken arm last year set her back a little, but she will soon be back at work. The dear old lady, who is perhaps the best-loved actress in Hollywood, says she would much prefer dying on a sound-stage in the middle of a scene than in bed. That’s the kind of spirit that makes successes of people. Probably the .most amazing case of all is that of Bill Robinson, famous negro tap dancer, who is 64 years of age, believe it or not. Robinson is getting more screen work today than ever before. He teaches Shirley Temple and Eleanor Powell most of their dance routine. He claims that if you think old you are old—good philosophy from a negro who never had many chances in life. I could go on with this list of successes over 40 for columns. Such men as Ronald Colman, Groucho Marx, Oliver Hardy, Sidney Toler will never see forty again, but they are still as popular as ever. I think my story proves conclusively that Hollywood is not for youth only. There is room for young and old here just as there is in any other walk of life.