Billboard advertising (Dec 1911)

THE BILLBOARD PUBLISHING COMPANY. Publisher. W. H. DONALDSON 416 Ba Street. ........ Cincinnati. Okie IN THE LIMELIGHT Intimate Sketches of the Careers and Personalities of Men Powerful in the World of Amusement, Whether or Not Prominent in the Public Eye The career of Henry B. Harris in the theatrical world Is quite as interesting m that of any of his contemporary fra- ternity. It relates-of vicissitudes of fortune, of disappointments and en. couragements that are akin to all the standard business enterprises of the present generation. His career was by no means determined (or ought we ■ay) molded and influenced by the fact that his father had ramified holdings In the theatrical sphere of the eighties and the nineties, although insomuch as his parent, Wm. Harris, was a pros- perous partner in the firm of (Isaac B.) Rich & Harris, young Henry B. grew and developed in a theatrical and managerial atmosphere. It is thus easy to understand then how he should have never been seen on the stage himself, like so many of his colleagues, Geo. M. Cohan, Wm. A. Brady, Lew Fields i.nd Joseph Weber. Needless to remark, he first learned the theatrical game from some of Its minor viewpoints, but these were always on the commercial end, beginning at an early age. It was on December 1, in 1866, that Henry B. Harris was born. St. Louis is his natal town, and it was here that the young hopeful first entered the public theatrical arena, then many times more primitive, undeveloped and unexplolted. His quiet reserve and unaffected, unassuming personage was even as at present a dominant charac- teristic His modest Introduction to the theatre was In the capacity of a •ong-book vender at the teader age of oeven, at the Theatre Comlque, in the Missouri metropolis. His profit on each of the Harris-Carroll melody folio folders was one cent, and at the end of his first week his statement showed a balance on the profit side of $3.56. ac- • compllshed by dint of scrambling and yelling the merit of his wares in the rough gallery crowd of the variety house. After some months of this frenzied finance, he transferred his activities to the Po? e Theatre, where he graduated from vendor of song books to the more dignified position of custodian of the opera glass stand. Working at night, and attending school in the daytime, he put in the first months of his business life, but the St. Louis venture was soon broken up by the removal of his family to Boston. " Here he began again as a •eller of song books in the Howard Athenaeum, In that city, and In the yoars that followed, young Harris filled every position In the theatre, exclusive of manager. About this time, and still under the ase of seventeen. Mr. Harris was made •he offer of a partnership in a cigar manufacturing concern, an offer which proved so tempting that he was Induced to leave the theatrical life to enter that of a commercial career. Here he re- mained for almost nine years, during *hlch time in his hours away from bus- 'neaB. he studied the stage in all Its details, and educated himself w that ho might stand on eaual footinar with HENRY B. HARRIS. all those men whose good fortune it is to have a high school and college edu cation. The stage, however, had been Inbred in him. The call of the foot- light world proved too strong as com- pared with commercial life, and he returned to the profession as treasurer of the Columbia Theati e of Boston, at a salary of $25.00 a week. After a three years' service at this playhouse, which was under the man- agement of Charles Frphman and Rich & Harris, he became business manager of the theatre, his salary being raised to $50.00, and during part of this time had an interest In the. Howard Athe- naeum Star Specialty Company, with Charles J. Rich, son of the veteran manager. Filled with progresslveness, Harris, finding that he had reached the limit of his service with this thea- tre, went Into the theatrical business on his own account, his first venture being his Interest in the May Irwin Company, a venture that proved a huge success and which netted him a profit on the first year of $13,000. This was In the fall of 1894, and the enisode of the purchase of his holdings into the May Irwin Company are given greater color by the repetition of the story of his investment, as related both by the senior Rich and the now es- tablished producer. The old firm of Rich & Harris proposed opening a play called The Widow Jones, with May Ir- win in the title role. The rehearsals of the piece did not seem to indicate to Mr. Rich that the play would prove a big success, and he let it be known Indirectly that he might be Induced to part with, his interest for a nominal sum. One morning a little later, a young man walked into his office and said: "Mr. Rich, I understand you are willing to dispose of your Interest in the May Irwin production?" "Why, yes," responded Rich; "but what do you know about It?" "I have seen the rehearsals, sir, and I am greatly In- terested." "You are not thinking of buying it, are you?" "That is my mis- sion here," answered the young man quietly. "What will you take for your Interest?" Rather amused with this high sounding tone of a young man whom Rich knew as one of his repre- sentatives, working for $25.60 a week at that time, the magnate said: "Well, young man. It will cost you just $2,500 to get into this thing. Now, where can you raise that amount in cash ?". "Will you hold the offer open for an hour?" asked the would-be purchaser, and Rich still holding the matter in the light of a joke, said he would. In a lit- tle less than that time, Mr. Rich was astonished to have the young man re- enter his office and plank down twenty- five one hundred dollar bills on the desk. That young man was Henry B. Harris, then in bis twenty-ninth year. As before recounted, his venture with the May Irwin production netted him quite an ample dauble column thousand figure in one long season. This money he invested in various the- atrical propositions, which, although seeming good, proved just the reverse, and at the end of seven years he found himself without funds, and obliged to begin again at the bottom of the ladder. He acceded to a proposition as business manager with several of the Frohman and Rich and Harris enterprises, and while in their employ, acted as man- ager for Lily Langtry. Peter F. Bailey in The Good Mr. Best, The Country Sport, The White Heather, and several other attractions. But fate could not long frown on the type of a man gifted with the Inde- fatigability and undaunted progras- siveness that Is so Instinctive to the nature of Harris. He had visions of his Forty-fourth Street playhouse yet to goad him on to final accomplish- ment. He Invested himself with pro- ductions of unquestionable surety and success, -until now he takes his rank throughout the country as one of America's foremost producers- and owners of some of the greatest stage successes of recent years. These in- clude The Lion and the Mouse, Strong- heart, Soldiers of Fortune, The Chorus Lady, Classmates, The Traveling Sales- man, The Third Degree, The Commu- ters, The Country Roy, etc He also has under his managerial wing some of the most Important American stars. Included in this list are: Robert Ede- son. Rose Stahl, Helen Ware, Elsie Fer- guson, Frank Mclntyre, Ruth St. Denis and. Edgar Selwyn. ; This season Henry B. Harris' activi- ties are represented by. his latest ..New York theatre The Harris (formerly the Hackett}, and the Fulton (former- ly the Foliejs Bergere). Robert Edesoa In The Arab, Rose Stahl in Maggie Pepper, Helen Ware in The Price, Frank Mclntyre In Snobs, Elsie Fei<- guson in Dolly Madison, The Cofaimu- ters, three companies of The Country Boy, The Quaker Girl, The Talker, The Traveling Salesman. The Wild, Olive, The Professor's Wlfa and Ruth St Denis in East Indian and Egyptian Dances. A formidable list are already under consideration for the 1918-1$ season* of this self-made and sclt-Ttaeo pro- ducer.