Should Actress Tell Age ?

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1076, 13 September 1930, Page 18

Should Actress Tell Age ?

Amusing Evasion in Sydney

BOW to evade questions which might have an important bearing on a woman’s age was demonstrated by Lucy ' Honeyivood Hagon Dunne, theatrical artist, before Mr. Justice Stephen, in the Causes Court, Sydney, during the hearing of her £2,000 claim against the Railway Commissioners for alleged negligence. The case provided some amusing exchanges between counsel for the defendants (Mr. Lamb, K.C.) and the plaintiff. “How many years have you been on the stage?” she was asked. “Well,” replied Mrs. Hagon-Dunne, after some hesitation, “I may say for years.” Mr. Lamb: It may be for years, and it may be ? “No,” she retorted, “but I have been oil the stage since childhood. Age, in an actress, is like wine.” £3O a Week Mrs. Hagon-Dunne told the court that on October 12 last she was thrown off a Pitt Street tram as she was about to alight at the corner of Campbell Street. She had arrived from England eight days before, and %vas on her way with her husband to sign up a theatrical contract at a salary of £3O a week. The accident was caused,. she said, through the tram moving off before she had alighted. The injuries to her knee precluded her from following her particular line on the stage, which demanded agility. She and her husband appeared as the Hagon-Fraser combination.

Mr. Mack, K.C.: For the information of the court, you might enumerate some of the sketches in which you appeared. Mrs. Hagon-Dunne: Well, let me see. There was the “Moonlight Flirtation,” “Old Heads and Young Hearts,” and (gazing intently at Mr. Lamb), there was “Lamb the Lawyer!” “Just imagine that you are broadcasting that famous sketch, ‘Lamb, the Lawyer,’ ” remarked Mr. Lamb, when proceeding with his cross-examina-tion. Not High-kicker Mr. Lamb: Did you appear as the Irish lady in “Abie’s Irish Rose” when in England?—Yes. What salary were you receiving?— About £3O a week. While you were away for so many years, the Australian public had no opportunity of seeing you?—No, but they were longing to see me. When the accident happened, were you not trying to imitate the wellknown actress, Maisie Gay?—Oh, she was a high-kicker! Don’t you know that she always got out of a car backward?—No. Mr. Lamb: May I ask your age now? —I am proud of my age. You knew the late Florence Young, did you not?—-Yes; she was very fine. Was she infinitely better as she got older?—l think so. What about Maggie Moore? Was she better in 1928 than when she appeared with Mr. Williamson 50 years ago?—ln certain circumstances an actress gets better. What, after 50 years?—Yes; there are certain parts a woman may take. I make up very young, you know.