Variety (February 1909)

10 VARIBTY ARTISTS 1 FORUM Confine your totters te ISO words Anonyswas cos—nlcatlons wIB net b« held In strict confldsncs. If write •* eae side of po por only, bo printed. Nosso of writer must bo signed and Rutland Open House, Rutland, Vt., Jan. 30. Editor Variety: I have taken notice of all your issues since its birth—a copy of which I have in my house in New York City, and I have at all times noticed the fairness of your criticism and often where advice was given for the betterment of the artist. Your columns to me have always been truthful and creditable in every way. Saturday does not come too soon for me to know the doings of the theatrical pro- fession. How you gather so much news, I don't know. In my business, I am not only a magician, but a telepathist. Your staff must be more. I give Vamett credit. But that is not the object of this. First of all, permit me to thank you for my letter in last week's issue. I have been a performer for thirty-two years, and have gone through the capacity of every part as a showman—proprietor, agent, manager, newspaper man, performer and everything. Never in my life was I ever blamed for copying anyone in any capac- ity that I may have followed. During my career as an agent, I had the honor of being the cause of introducing such people as Alice Neilson (who was my leading lady at the Wigwam Theatre, San Fran- cisco, in 1891). I was the first to place Nora Bayes in the business. Artie Hall, Julian Rose, Carter De Haven, Bonita, Miss Nellie Maguire, my wife, the original eostermongers Miss Bessie Allen, the "California Dancing Doll"; Oardownie Sisters, Ifcmeralda, Cliff Gordon, Horace Goldin and, I may say, hundreds of others. None of these will say different. I have booked thousands of people in this country; but what I want to know is this: Is there any way by which an artist of original ideas can stop a, man from stealing his act from A to ZT I did a great favor to the gentleman to whom I refer (permitting him to sit behind the stage at the Star, Seattle, for two solid weeks, which I never allowed any other person to do, not even stage hands). I helped him along and booked him with Sullivan- Oonsidine and sent him on his way. He promised me faithfully that he would never forget me, for which I give him credit—he never did. He has taken my act from A to Z just to remember me. I am not mentioning any person's name in reference to this, but I thought I would write and tell you that such things exist. Horace Goldin, De Biere, Larry Crane—all good fellows—are doing something belong- ing to me with my consent, but none have taken my act bodily—not only the tricks, but my patter, which is stereotype with this certain party, but it is not so with me. I desire to give my special regards to Henry dive. He will understand what I mean. You have seen Mr. dive but, as I said in my lsst letter to your paper, I have not worked vaudeville in the east for five years, but expect to do so again after I finish with Mr. Oahn's Circuit, where I have been giving my whole evening's per- formance. You will then have the oppor- tunity of witnessing my performance and you can then see who the performer is who has copied me. I am now doing a new patter act, and I hope that my Australian friend will be able to see it; but not from behind the stage. Athene the Great. (Mr. Athene's standing and long record as an artist entitles him to all respect, but we will say (as his letter is printed) that through mentioning Mr. Qive as the possible person referred to as the "copy- ist," that we have seen Clive work twice upon the stage; he has been reviewed by each member of Vabhtt'b staff, and at no two times did Clive follow the same routine of talk. In connection with his magical or burlesque magical act, Clive extemporizes in his patter, even to the point of impromptu remarks anent persons recognized in the audience. This we know from actual experience, and if Mr. Albene is accusing Clive of taking his act "bodily'' as he says, we will draw Mr. Albene's attention to our statement above. In reference to the magic Mr. Clive may perform, we have no knowledge ; whether that has been taken from Mr, i Albene, although we should judge not, j since dive's main dependence is his patter. / His strength lies in that more than the magical performance, and we suggest to Mr. Albene, as we suggested to Mr. Clive (who presented us a letter written by Albene to him), that Mr. Albene reserve bis decision until he shall have viewed dive's act. We are not passing judgment, nor shall we until we have seen Mr. Albene upon the stage.—Ed.) cuse," at the Family Theatre, Deo. 18, 1907, and I had #ng*g»rt Sheldon ot a salary of $30 per week. After the first week I very foolishly changed the billing from "Irene Hobson and Oo." to "Hobson and Sheldon." Since "stealing" is mentioned in this affair, I will say that Sheldon stole every line of my playlet and copied even the corrections, producing same in court in his own writing, and even then lost the case. He says, "Why did Miss Hobson change the title of the sketch?" Because I have rewritten it, and the new title means more. I have just rearranged it the second time. Irene Hobeon, (Miss Hobson encloses a letter from Chris O. Brown, the general eastern repre- sentative of the Sullivan-Considine Cir- cuit, in which Mr. Brown substantiates Miss Hobson's statements as to the Family Tneatre engagement. Any further communications on this subject will not be published.—Ed.) TIN PAN ALLEY JINGLES. By WILLIAM JEROME. New York, Jan. 30. Editor Variety: Answering the letter of Bob and Bertha Hyde in to-day's Variety, would say that maybe I did make a mistake in reading their complaint against Rossley and Hos- tel le. I understood it was the "pan-in- the-hat" trick they were growling about, and I couldn't stand to see some one butt in and claim it. That's why I butted in; excuse me. Maybe I do need a pair of new glasses, but you will never live to my age to stand by and correct some of the Johnnie- new-comers in this business. It is far better to have worked for the first ship- builder than to attend a free lunch coun- ter. Now don't deny it; IVe got your number. Pat MaUen. (Mgr. Noah Circuit). New York, Jan. 31. Editor Yariett: Please state that I, J. George Blondell, and not "Geo. J. Blondale," is "The Original Boy with the Green Hair." I have been known as such for the past nine years. This same Geo. J. Blondale was my assist- ant for three years, and was then known as Harry J. Oohn. He not only stole my act, but as you can see, tried hard to steal my name. The following: T. Francis Fritz, Prof. Joseph Dunninger, The Great Elroy, Happy Harry Sparks, Walter EL Emerson, The Great Tally, Barney Ives, Harry J. Morton, Arthur Roy (Bedene and Arthur), and hundreds of others will back up my state- ment. I applied for copyright on Feb. 26, and got answer from Washington, stating that there was no protection for a specialty act or mere stage business, and have same at present at hand to show. J. Geo. Blondell "The Original Boy With the Green Hair." P. S. Please place this in Artists' Forum so this self-styled "Originator" may see it, for I would love to know if he has enough brass in him to answer it. New York, Feb. 1. Editor Variety: Harry S. Sheldon did not tell how that injunction (Forum, Variety, Jan. 30) he served on me (in Judge Trout's Court, San Francisco, last April) ended. Since he neglected to do so, I will. Two hours later I produced my copyright; the injunction was vacated, and I never missed a performance, and when this came to trial a month later, I won my suit. Don't you think two months a long time to get a copyright? It didn't take me a month. Sheldon admits getting his copyright Feb. 17, while mine is dated Jan. 16, 1906. Mr. Chris 0. Brown, the manager of the Sullivan and Oonsidine CSrcuit, will tell you that I produced "Meet Me In Syra- Ganton, 0., Feb. 2. Editor Variety: I note there are more people using my name. For instance, "The Three Demonios." These people have just taken this name. They have no right to it, and they are infringing on my reputation by doing so. Then there is a person who calls himself "George Demoneo." When this man began using my name. I warned him not to, but he continues. Now I see there is a team calling them- selves "Demoro and Belle." It is not pro- fessional to take a name so closely re- sembling ours. We understand why. I also find there are a great many people using some of the material of our act; also copying our makeups. I entered the show business in Janu- ary, 1882, perhaps before these people were born, and up until nine years ago I was the only person in the profession known by the name of "Demonio." There are many still living who can verify my statement. Harry Demonio, (Demonio and Belle.) Some statements are very conflicting. I know one writer they had to chloro- form to make him take his. Horwitz and Bowers were a grand old team. "Because" and "Always" are re- sponsible for the so-called high-class bal- lad craze. "The Paid Singer" who is paid regularly to sing real songs is a wise old bird. The singer who is paid to sing junk is as blind as a bat. Monroe II. Roaenfeld is the 'Teter Pan" of Tin Pan Alley. He refuses to grow old. Popular songs and popular song writers are soon forgotten. Bert Feibleman, "Big Chief Little Dandy" with Cohan & Harris, is paying Chicago a paying visit this week. He is ac- companied by a very well dressed young man, who answers to the name of Schwartz. Both members of this club. Shine orchestras generally play shine music. Many a good meal has been spoiled by bad jingles. The House of Hits has never had a big- ger hit th -n "If I Had a Thousand Lives." Bill Redfield is the "Big King Orchestra- tion" of Melody Lane. In passing by, kindly dip your Dunlap to William. If the copyright bill on canned music ever becomes a law song writing will then be a regular business. Hough, Adams & Howard's statement for the past six months amounted to over $15,000. I always said Charlie Harris paid real royalties. Percy Wenrich and "Rainbow" are the two big instrumental stars of the present season. "The Honest Publisher" gathers the most money. SONG WRITER IN ASYLUM. Wilmington, Del., Feb. 4. An odd incident occurred in Wilmington last week while Geo. Homans' "A Night With the Poets" were playing at W. L. Dockstader's Garrick Theatre. It has been Manager Dockstader's an- nual custom to provide an afternoon of amusement for the inmates of the Insane Asylum. While Mr. Homans' act was taking its part in the entertainment one day last week, all the unsound minds were present, with the exception of two confined in cells with "strait-jackets" on. "The Poets" conclude with the singing of "Just Because You Were an Old Sweet- heart of Mine." As the song ended, the superintendent led Mr. Homans to one of the barricaded cells, and remarked to a man who seemed mild enough: "Do you recognize that songT" "I ought to," re- plied the occupant of the cell, "I wrote it twelve years ago." The writer's name is Roberts.