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"~~ """^1 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF, w^ I became identified my interest in Mo- LONG before with them, tion Pictures amounted almost to a fascination. It is now a source of keen amusement to me to recall those days when I used to stand on the curb and fight against the call of the five-cent show. I was "up-stage" with regard to Motion Pictures in those days, and, somehow, I thought it cheapened a man to be seen enter- ing a five-cent house. But I had to o. The call was too powerful; so I would survey the street carefully in both directions, and then, when the coast was clear, I would dodge in to study the screen. Long before an opportunity to enter the Motion Picture field pre- sented itself to me, I had it all figured out to my own satisfaction that this was the most promising field in sight for a man of my (purely imaginary) talents. One day, in Brooklyn, a man in the employ of the Vitagraph ac- costed me, and, after excusing himself for his abruptness, he declared I was the finest type of man for Motion Pic- ture work he had ever seen. Finally, he suggested that I try the work for a short time. I was doing well on the legitimate stage at that time, and the matter was dropped. However, during the next two years that con- versation fermented in my mind. I was playing in Chicago in "The Road to Yesterday," when a member of the Essanay people saw my performance. After speaking of the matter with my manager, they made me a flatter- ing offer to join their company. How- ever, I was still a trifle "up-stage." In fact, it took me some time to over- come the prejudices of stage folk, and to realize that the five-cent theater was the greatest institution for the entertainment of all the people in the world.