Variety (July 1919)

■':'■' ■^■^mmmmm^rK ■■ ■'■> •■'>■■■■■■■■■■ .v.? ■ . ■>'■■'-^Mtm :"■•; ^'i; ■'";'*"* ■ ,- - ™■•*-?--' y.^n^r-r^ ;-^v-'--^~";r-r~~h-.n ; : «---j VARIETY : t =x=fc aaaii. IUU' ■,:)!•.:■■ i:.:'-. :: K v .'.-.•.■■.■ 2W& . • ..'..■■-- . i :.. V. :■-.':" ■'■' ar ■■••-. fe. ■■:•■••'••■ A. Well, It in a question of feet It It not a question of quibbling. . Q. If you haven't any personal objection to the personal representative, u yon Juat stated, and you an the beta of an organisation of acton, and In the same breath, you say too personal representative doesn't do anything for the actor— A. I didn't say that. I said lie wa» supposed to represent the actor. Q. if the personal rspresontatira does not do the things that yon ssy bs Is supposed to do, why Is It In the Interest of the White Rats Actors' Union and your own Interest that yon are not opposed to them, Instead of being In favor of themT A. If the commission for the personal representative la properly regulated, he becomes the employe of the actor. Under the present conditions be Is the, employe of the booking offices, because he la dependent upon them for the return of a certain amount of his commission. Q. By the same token. If the personal representative le to get for his performer a larger salary or a bigger route, it means just that much more return to him, doesn't ltt A. It means more return to him it he gets all the com- mission. Q. Isn't It a fact that performers give their representatives something even in addition to the five per cent as an extra inducement? A. No. •••;■.■ Q. To the representative to get out and hnstle for him. A. No, I don't think It Is an extra lndieement at all, Mr. Goodman. It le demanded. , £5 *-' Q. Do you eee anything as a praeffrar? matter, aside from any question of law, do you see anything to prevent an actor from saying to his representative, "Now, I want 1300 ae my salary, but if you get me (600 I will split the differ- ence between the |300 and the $500 with you." A. I think it le a menace to the business Itself. Q. Well, aa a practical man Is there any means or any way that you can stop actors and personal representatives from making that kind of a deal? A. If you bave an organisation you can. Q. I would like to know, I would like to hear yon teU ub how you oouid stop it. . A. Well, if yon can nx the amount of commissions by law, that an actor shall pay five per cent of his salary, ae was fixed, then if you can secure the evidence, it might be difficult to secure the evidence, and you find a man is violating the rules of the organisation by paving bis personal representative a bonus, or splitting an added salary with him, you can suspend him and keep him out of business until he behaves. Q. Ton realize, Mr. Fitzpatrlck, don't you, that when such a thing occurs, the manager is the man that has to foot the bill? A. That Is my objection to it Mr. Goodman. Not on the part of the actor; it is because it is an iinjustice to the manager . | Q. la there any other method that you can conceive of to prevent collusive dealing between an actor and a represen- tative to procure an Increase In salary T . A. I don't think it is altogether wrong. I know it is not wrong for an actor and his representative to secure an honest, legitimate increase in salary, but for a man to enter into an agreement with an agent whereby be floats bis salary beyond its legitimate value, making all due allowance for all the conditions that should enter into the consideration of what la a decent salary, I think a man who does that, both the actor and the personal representative, ought to be actually driven out of the business forever. Q. What I would like to know, Mr. Fttspatrlck is, Isn't that one of the difficulties In the vaudsvllle business that arises out of the peculiarities of human nature, whether in • vaudeville or any other business, that an actor to get a greater salary or more money, will offer to hie agent or the agent will ask the actor, "If I get you more will yon give me more"? Isn't that something that you cannot atop by legislation or by orders or laws or anything else! A. It would be a difficult matter to stop, but I believe It could be stopped; but I believe if a sufficiently drastic example would be made of the offenders that It would be stopped for all time, I don't mean suspending a man's franchise, or breaking htm; I mean absolutely eliminating him irom the business forever. He le dpne with the theat- rical business; and if that were done once there would be a decided Improvement, I think. My object I repeat again, la because it is a rank Injustice to the management and to the public. Q. Now, you testified that there were certain acts in the profession that were bad acta or impossible acta, and I think in your open letter you referred to the elimination of such acts? A. Tea, Q. la there in the vaudeville a large number of acta or persons who call themselves actors who are what yon would term bad acts, impossible actors or piratical actors stealing othere' material? A. I think there are a great many, especially now. Q. Of course, as you said before, there are good and bad actors and good and bad managers, because there la good and bad in everything, and you cannot expect per- fection? A. Yea, sir. Q. But can you give us any Idea what percentage of the actors are of the type we have just been discussing—I mean the bad and impossible acta? A. I think that 86 per cent of the existing vaudeville bills are not good vaudeville shows, and I think that 85 per cent of the actors now appearing In so-called first-class vaudeville theatres are bad actors. Q. How long back has that condition existed In your Judgment? A. I think back until Mr. Williams went cut of the busi- ness. I think the business has steadily degenerated artisti- cally and from the standpoint of good, clean entertainment within the last seven years. I think ever since I came into the business. I have watched It with a great deal of anxiety and a great deal of interest. I believe that as soon as the actor and the quality of the entertainment get so bad artistically and so obnoxious from the standpoint of cleanliness that the theatre Is going to be driven back into the self-same position it was in the latter part of the 18th century, and a few centuries before, when actors were the pariahs of the buman race. Q. Vaudvllle oonslsta of a variety of talent, doss it not? A. Yes, It should. Q. Well, It does draw on people from every profession and walk of life, does It not A. You mean— Q. The vaudeville profession. A You saw draws on everybody. You mean the character of the audience or the character of the performers? Q. The character of the performers. A. My answer to that Is that it should consist of a variety ef elements. I don't think that It draws on people from all walks of life. Q. Well, I don't mean that there Isn't one occupation or business that is not skipped, but I mean as a general thing the people la vaudeville are made up of people, the people performing in vaudeville are made up of an innumerable character of people from different parts of the globe, doing different things? ' A. Yes. Q. For the entertainment of the public? A. Tea. Q. And least, what they think will entertain the publio? A. I think the class from which the vaudeville performers have been drawn in the last seven years bave changed radi- cally. Q. This change in conditions yon attribute entirely to what the conduct of the respondents in this proceeding? A. Pint of all that then la no opposition. Secondly, to the fact that I believe then is no spirit of personal pride in the quality of the performance that Is given. Q. You would not blame the White Bate Acton' Union propaganda carried on in 1810 and U tor a closed shop at all for the condition, would you? A. Not at all; nothing to do with it Q. Do people go into vaudeville tnm the legitimate stage? A. Occasionally. ' . > Q. And from burlesque? Jl Very tKJldoEH. Q. Are they ever drawn from the circus to appear in vaude- ville? A, I don't know that they an drawn flrom circuses. They appear. Q, I am not trying to quibble with you, Mr. Fitspatriok. A. No; they appear In cireusee and in vaudeville. Vaude- ville in the winter and circuses in the summer, a certain percentage, Q. An then not in vaudeville the following character of acts and attractions: Acrobatic, floating aerial acts, trapese acts, Juggling acts, clown acts, Risley acts, tight-rope walkers, animal acts, including trained dogs, cats, horses, elephants, seals, birds, rats, lions; aren't those Included in tne category of vaudeville? . A. Yes. Q. Physical acts, dancing acts, Juggling acts, musical acts, singing, sketches of all kinds, including dramatic playlets, comedy acts, pantomimes, ventriloquists, illusions, magicians, comedians, impersonators, speeches and monologues, water- diving aots, day modeling, lighting calculators, sharp- shooters, whistlers, sketching, bands; those all fall under the category of vaudeville acts when they are doing a tun In vaudeville, do they not? A. Yes. y. And Included in this category and performing these acts are Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Arabians, American Indians, Mexicans, East Indians, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Germans, Italians and Spanish, and representatives of other nations? A. Yes. Q. Isn't it due to this great conglomeration and the great variety of the people and class of people; in other words, this cosmopolitan make-up of the profession, that the vaudeville performer la a man usually of temperament, great artlstlo or professional temperament? A. I don't think so, Mr. Goodman. I think they an not very temperamental aa a class in comparison with legitimate actors. Q. Are they people of a nervous and excitable disposition? A. No, 1 don't think so. They are under a certain nervoua strain which is necessary to give a successful performance, but nervous and excitable, I think not Q. Ton don't think that the expression so frequently heard about acton concerning their artistio temperament applies to vaudeville performers? A. I never heard any vaudeville actor talking about his artistio temperament Q. Did you ever bear a vaudeville actor admit he bad a had act? A. Yes, I think I have. Q. How many of all the acton that you have known In the White Rata have ever admitted to you that he really had a bad act? A. I could not fix the number or the amount Q. They an mighty few and far between, aren't they? A. I think most people have to have an Idea of the quality of their own act and I think it is an absolute necessity for the production of that act because It they had any idea In the back of their bead that the act was not good It would be automatically transmitted to the audience and the audience would get the same idea. Q. An actor, whether he be a vaudeville performer or any other by force of hie very profession, is required to bave and possess a very strong sense of his own importance in the profession? A. No, I don't agree to that no. So far as his offering la concerned, to be successful he must believe that he baa a good act whether the audience agrees with him or the managers agree with him or not? A. Tea, certainly. ' Q. And a great number of acton believe that their mate- rial and their offering Is good? A. Tee. I think they do. Q. Is there what Is known In the profession as professional Jealousy among vaudeville performers? A. I never experienced any. Q. Isn't It a fact that every performer on a bill wants to be headlined or billed In big type or bigger type than the other fellow on the bill? A. No, I think not Q. Does not the average vaudeville performer want the best dressing room no matter who else is on the bill? A. I think that is altogether untrue. In all my experience In playing vaudeville theatres I cannot recall a half dozen instances of rows over dressing rooms among the ordinary members of the bill. Of course, if you have 'a star who has been brought in from the legitimate, or who is not a trained vaudevllllan, then may be a demand for certain things In the line of dressing rooms, but the vaudeville actor as a class, I found, haa been a very long suffering Individual, quite content to do his work it let alone. Q. With ngard to billing, hasn't It been one of the greatest causes of trouble to the managers that actors would walk out of a bill because they were not billed to suit them? A. No, I think they walk out of the bills In isolated oases and In some instances, yes, I think so. That Is one of the things that we had in our mind to stop Instantly. But I think that In many cases the reason they walk out of the theatre Is that they were billed, because the billing was misrepresented to them when the engagement was booked on the part of either the booking manager or booking agent and led to believe one thing; the actor went to the theatre and found another thing had been done, and he considered that he had a legitimate nason for walking out Person- ally, I don't think he has any nason. I believe If be makes a contract that he should play it and that is one of the things that we were most insistent upon in trying to stop. Q. Reason or no reason, it Is my Judgment, and I am simply trying to bring It out, that regardless of the whys and the wherefores, the condition which Ib existing In vaudeville and has for some time of aoton being dissatisfied with their billing or their place on the bill; that Is to say, an actor wishing to be down near closing Instead of No. 2 on the bill, or right after another man, Instead of some other place on the bill, that those things have occurred In vaudeville and they have given rise to the managers and the actors? , A. I think it has happened occasionally. X don't think H Is a general rule, by any means. I think then an weir few instances in comparison with the number of acta which an booked. Q. At the time of your assuming the office of president now many of the so-called bad actors or Impossible aotorf wen members of the White Rats Aoton' Union, if any? A. I think 75 per cent, and 80 per cent of all the aoton in the vaudeville business wen members at one time of other, good, bad and indifferent. Q. what percentage of your membership at that time would vou Bay wen headline acts? A. At the time I came In? Q; Yes. A. 85 per cent ■ ■ Q. And of the other 15 per cent, how many of them would you say were Just mediocre or fair acta? . A. I think the odd 15 per oent—now, let mo got that Tou asked me what percentage of the headllnow , Q. No, what percentage of your membership were head- linen. Tou said about 86 per oent A. Oh, I misunderstood the question. I thosght 70a said what percentage of the headllnen wen members of the organization, Q. No. i * A. I think 85 per cent of the headllnen in the business at that time were members of the White Rata Actors' Union. 1 don't mean to say by that that 85 per ceat of the member- ship were headllnen. Q.jThat is what I am trying to get at What percentage of tbe Union were headllnen? , A. Oh, I couldn't say that Mr. Goodman. Q. Now, as president of the White Rata Aoton' Union, what class of actors did you find gave you most work or trouble, the actor who was employed or the actor who was unemployed? ' A. Most of the trouble we had was with acton who wen employed and had trouble with their contracts or playing their engagements. We bad no trouble or cause for trouble with the actors who were unemployed because they had nothing to kick about Q. Did you never meet an .unemployed actor who believed he was out of employment because he bad a bad act? A. I don't know that I. nave. Q. How many acton do you think then an In the vaude- ville profession today? A. Well, the United States Census for 1910 gives the total number of actors in the business as 28,297. Q. In vaudeville? - A. In all branches of theatrical business. 28,287 aoton. That is 1910. 20,006 showmen. ' <V Q. Now, wait a minute. Since 1910, if I understand your " previous testimony correctly, there has been an influx of a lot of undesirable or bad acts. Is that right? A. No, I don't think there has been an influx. I think tbe quality of the acts which have come In wen inferior in quality to those of the preceding vaudeville generation In schooling and ability, in stage deportment and ability to entertain. • Q. Would you say that those who came in subsequently took the place of those who were before or came la in addi- tion to them? A. I think they took the places of those who had left the variety business and gone into some other branch, of mu sical comedy or something else. Q. What is your best Judgment about the number of vaudeville acts now in the profession? A. Oh, I would say about ten to twelve thousand people. Q. Tou mean twelve thousand people, not acta? ■A. People, not acts, Q. Would you say that that was about the number a tew yean ago when you were president ten or twelve t h ousa n d? A. I think so, yes, Q. Tou are talking now of vaudeville acts, the numbers In vaudeville acta? A. Yes. Q. With the number of theatres such aa there are la this country it is an impossibility to play all of the vaudeville acts in the country, is it not.? A. Ob, there is bound to be a surplus, yes. Q. As there Is In any other business? A. Tes, Q. Always bound to be a certain amount of unemployed? A. Tea. Q. Now, when a man buys a ticket to eee a vaudeville , show, be pays not merely for a seat In the Place, but to ate a show, that intangible thing called entertainment doesn't he? A. Yes. Q. He expects to see a good show? Whether ho gets It or not Is another question? A. Yes. Q. When a manager employs a vaudeville performer, he pays him to render for the publio, to the beet of his ability, his particular specialty or service, does he not? a ypr sir Q. In 'other words, the quid pro quo for the manager's salary Is the service of the actor? • A. Yes, sir. Q. And the best service he can nnder? A. Absolutely. Q. When you were playing in vaudeville and yon went from one olty to another, you carried your personal baggage and tbe properties which you needed in the theatre In connec- tion with your act, didn't you? A. Certain properties which were not In the theatre. Q. Performers in vaudeville usually carry their own stage effects where they use stage effects, do they not? . .. A. Yes. Q. Are there not many acts that require no baggage other than their purely personal belongings, such aa monologue acta? A. Yes, that is true. Not very many, though. Very few. Q. You bave noted in the vaudeville theatre when yon have played that each theatre is equipped With a certain stock set of scenery, such aa a scene depleting a garden or a parlor or a street; that is so? A. Yes. Q. And then they have their local stage hands In the theatre? A. Yes. Q. And electricians to handle that scenery and handle the lights for the performance? A. Unless the scenic effects required In the act demand the services of an electrician which the actor has to oarry with him, himself. Q, In traveling from one city to another to nnder your professional sorviccs as a -vaudeville performer, don't yon carry your own theatrical properties with you, which Is the same in principle—mark you, I am talking of principals now—In principle as a surgeon traveling from one city to another who carries his surgical Instruments and medical properties necessary for him for tbe performance of his professional duties? A. I don't think that Is a parallel case, Mr. Goodman. Q. I know It Is not parallel in the sense that the services rendered by the doctor an the same aa the services ren- 13 I IE 8' c. ?c : ; : 1 i SS