Screen Guilds Magazine (May 1936)

An Old Actor’s Home In The West A LL three of the persons I’m on speaking terms with at the moment think the David Torrence idea of an old actors home is “swell”. Even the other members of the Guild Magazine Committee think it “swell”. With an unusual unanimity and at great personal sacrifice, the committee graciously voted that I write an article to keep this idea alive in the minds of our readers. . . . Thanks so much. I have not visited the Percy Williams Home at Islip, Long Island, but I do know it is quite a beautiful estate. For several years the Lambs Club held their annual outing (washings) there. The Actors Fund Home on Staten Island I am compelled to confess that I have not seen; but on good authority I learn it is quite a delightful place. The Saranac Lake Sanatorium is also not known per¬ sonally but I have had the pleasure of seeing quite a number of patients come back from a sojourn there, much bene¬ fited in health. But Hooray ... I have been to the Forrest Home in Philadelphia. It is a very artistic building set down in a pleasant garden and looks on a golf links. The bedrooms, though not large, are comfortable and the dining room and lounge compare not unfavorably with like accomodations in the average hotel or country club. The old actors and actresses finding shelter in this home are not treated as paupers or charity inmates, but as guests. They are never made to feel their dependency. They have perfect freedom of movement (of course meal hours have to : be fixed). W HEN these homes were founded the income tax had not been in¬ vented in this country. Consequently, the fund for establishing and endow¬ ment came in full from the pocket of the founder. Pie had no rake-off, so to speak. Today it is different. Actors in the higher categories could donate con¬ siderable sums yet be able to deduct from their income tax returns such sums that it would make their contributions almost negligible. Nor need they feel that they are being unfair to their gov¬ ernment in doing this. After all, each beneficiary would be one more off the list of state or federal aided persons. For years I have cherished the idea that some Britisher or Foreigner who had accumulated a fortune in this coun¬ try would found and endow such a home as the Edwin Forrest; or if not an in¬ dividual, then a group, Charles Chap¬ lin. . Greta Garbo . . George Arliss . . Marlene Deitrich . . Mary Pickford . . Ronald Colman . . “inter alii” (Scotch for you, me and the other fellow). How glorious to give a lasting memento of their gratitude to the country and call¬ ing that had been good to them. When I voiced this idea at the com¬ mittee meeting, I was voted down by the American members. But I’m so used to being voted down that I’ve grown to like it. They tell me that when anyone agrees with me I take on the appearance of a startled rabbit. I sit on my haunches and perk my ears. Percy Williams, who founded the beautiful home at Islip, L. I., was not even an actor, but a manager and, in¬ cidentally, a Britisher. A NOTHER possible idea for creating a substantial fund would be to grant any individual subscribing one thousand dollars or more a preferential right to a place in the home should he be in necessity after he or she had ar¬ rived at sixty-five years of age, or for any reason had become incapacitated. It should be kept in mind that the interest on this thousand dollars would be used by the home from the time of its donation and many who subscribed would never claim benefit. Thanks to automobiles and the poor quality of liquor, only a few reach the alloted span of three score years and ten. It would be a grand thing if some big hearted soul would found a small cot¬ tage on the same estate but run quite separately for the care of T. B. patients. I picture a main building with liv¬ ing room or lounge, dining room, kitch- By Ivan Simpson . . . The well known actor who feels so strongly about the need for this charity , he backs that feeling with a signed cheque and says, “The game is started.” en, etc., quarters for married couples and two wings—one for women, the other for men. It might be advisable to have them distinctly separate. You can’t tell what these boys of 70 would be up to these days and the girls of 60 are not much better. The main point is this—in the East there are three homes for those who cannot continue to fight the battle of life. The West has none. What should we do about it? The Actors’ fund of America provides in the East outdoor relief as does the Motion Picture Relief Fund here. I FEEL so keenly about this idea of a home that I am sending a cheque with this scribble to the Guild Magazine. The cheque is not for so great an amount as I could wish; but it is all I can afford and most happy I am to start this proj¬ ect on the way. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the game is started. “Roll, bowl, or pitch” in your cheques for 10,000, 5,000 or what¬ ever your income warrants. If you wish, you can make a fine job of this; create a monument that would last through the years and bring credit not only to the founders but to our calling. "I feel so keenly about this idea of a home that I am sending a cheque with this scribble to the Guilds’ Magazine. The cheque is not for so great an amount as I could wish; but it is all that I can afford and most happy I am to start this project on the way. " The cheque for a substantial amount was made out to "The Old Actors' Home of California." It will be held until others are received when an account will be opened in that name. May, 1936 9 0