It took nine tailors (1948)

6 IT TOOK NINE TAILORS Think what a privilege to wear the hat that once graced the brow of John L. Sullivan!'' But John L. Sullivan's hat was too large for me, so the fellow brought out a hat that he assured me had been worn by Nat Goodwin at his first wedding. Only eighty-five cents. "You can't go wrong in a hat like that," he told me. "Nat Goodwin did," I reminded him, but tfie proprietor was not amused. For sixty-five cents I could have worn a hat that had once belonged to J. Pierpont Morgan, but I finally rented a hat for fifty cents that had never been worn by anybody more important than the best man at a Polish wedding. That night I confessed to Father that I had taken an outside job as an actor at five dollars a day. He didn't rebuke me, for no Frenchman has anything but the utmost respect for five American dollars; but the expression that crossed his face was as full of disapproval as though I had announced that I was going to play the piano in a bawdyhouse. Despite the fact that we didn't close the restaurant until after midnight, I was up the next morning at six. I had breakfast in the kitchen, wrapped the dress coat and silk hat in brown paper, took the long ride to Avenue M, and arrived at the studio an hour ahead of shooting time. At the wardrobe department I was handed the other parts of my costume, after which I found my way to the men's dressing room. This was a long, narrow room in which all the actors except the stars dressed. There were some hooks on the wall to hang clothes on and also a long dressing table with mirrors at which several actors were already putting on make-up, for in those days everybody applied his own grease paint and false whiskers. In fact, a man who was clever at make-up was assured of steady work because of the variety of parts he could play. I watched, fascinated, as one fellow combed out crepe hair and pasted a realistic spade beard on his chin. Another was adding long sideburns to his cheeks. Still another was fitting a wig on