Motion Picture Magazine (Feb-Jul 1919)

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\ WHEN a man's named Edward —if he is young, good-looking and an all-round, jolly good fellow — it is inevitable that his friends, new and old, will call him Eddie. The particular Eddie we're going to tell about is Edward J. Burns, who is proof conclusive that success comes to those who rush in where angels fear to tread. Eddie came to New York nineteen months ago and has just finished his sixteenth picture. If it takes four to six weeks to make a picture, you can figure it out on your own fingers that he has been a busy young man. It was only twenty-four years ago, in Philadelphia, that Eddie Burns first opened his eyes, and, to show you how smart he was, it is recorded that he knew instantly what a sleepy town it was. Such a birthplace is, of course, a great handicap for any one except a lawyer, and after Eddie graduated from the school days' age, he became a traveling salesman. For three and a half years his youthful exuberance, as expressed in his smile, did much to spread the fame of a certain cereal from Battle Creek. Then one day Eddie had a little talk with himself, and himself told Eddie that both of them would always be salesmen if they didn't hitch their wagon to a star. Every possible vocation, including his birthright of Philadelphia lawyer, was considered, and, having nothing to lose and everything to gain, he decided to see if it was hard to get into moving pictures and stay there. Accordingly, on a certain Wednesday a little more than a year and a half ago, Edward J. Burns arrived in New York, determined to get into pictures, even if he had to start at the bottom and tote a spear — which he (iNdidn't. Edward Burns a Trail to Fame By GERTRUDE K. SMITH Right then and there the kibosh was put on the old saw that has something to do with lack of speed and the Quaker City, for the very next day young Burns got a job! Presenting himself before Sam Kingston, casting director for William Fox, he pretended a nonchalance he didn't feel. William Nigh, the director, was in the room at the time. They both looked Eddie over. Nigh gave Kingston the high sign, and, without asking Burns if he had any experience, engaged him to play Herbert Heyes' brother because of a rather marked resemblance, which shows that it's not a bad idea to look enough like some one else to still be yourself. Friday, just two days after our hero's arrival, pinching himself to make sure his head was really securely fastened upon •his shoulders instead of floating about lightly in roseate clouds, Eddie Burns wended his way to the Fox studio in Fort Lee. Knowing nothing about the delicate art of making up, he took a chance on finding out without admitting his ignorance. Remembering having seen William Nigh with Violet Palmer in ''The (Continued on page 99) Edward Burns first played in pictures nineteen months ago. Since then he has appeared in sixteen productions Photo Brunei / v «