Photoplay (Oct 1917 - Mar 1918)

Getting Right Down to Brass Tacks Some facts about Earle R. Williams 'which repeal -what manner of man he really is. By Cameron Pike His Winton doesn't require repairs, but he likes to fuss with the machinery. A S my friend Owen Hatteras, a writer of biography /■i and philosophy, has observed, you can tell more •^ ■*■ about a woman by the way she eats an artichoke than by knowing where she was educated. Biographies are usually dull, partly because they tell too much, and partly because they do not tell enough. I could give you the history of Earle Williams from the day of his birth to his latest Vitagraph release, but that would tell you nothing except his relations with the world. What is much more interesting is Mr. Williams' relations with himself. And as such if lotions have to do with fragments, hobbies, habits, incidents, preferences, prejudices, and so on, so let the truly important things about Mr. Williams be related: HIS favorite pastime is running a moving picture camera, but he never has succeeded in turning out a good strip of film. He can drive an automobile with one hand, and can make minor repairs, but he doesn't like to, and never does when there is a chauffeur or garage handy. His favorite type of woman is a medium sized brunette. He once won a prize in a long distance bicycle race in California. The most curious present he ever received from an admirer was a pipe made from a mocha nut, sent to him by a picture nut named Xutt. The most useless present he ever received was a box of flowers from a woman living near Boston. The flowers were withered when they reached him. The same woman has sent these bouquets to him many times, and they are always faded when they arrive. He keeps his collars in a velvet-lined case. He shaves himself every morning, immediately after rising, using an old-fashioned razor. His beard grows so fast that he often has to shave twice a day when he is working. He smokes cigars by choice, usually four or five a day, the two-for-a-quarter kind and always the same brand. Nearly every prominent actress that has ever worked for Vitagraph has been his leading woman at one time or another, among them being Lillian Walker, Helen Gardner, Dot Kelly, Anita Stewart, Leah Baird, Corinne Griffith. Miriam Fouche Miles, Grace Darmond, Edith Storey, Clara Kimball Young, and Mary Charleson. The only players who were with Vitagraph when he began work with the company, and who are still there, are Harry Morey, Julia Swayne Gordon and "Mother" Maurice. He has appeared in two serials, "The Goddess," and ■ The Scarlet Runner." When working he drinks vast quantities of water, and always has a big pitcher of it handy. He is a Native Son of the Golden West, born in Sacramento. His dressing room looks more like a business office than the official home of an actor, the principal articles of furniture being two roll-top desks, his own and his secretary's. He does not come from a theatrical family, only one known relative ever having appeared on the stage. He was James Paget, a favorite player of the previous generation. He says: "I would rather be a mediocre actor and sane, than a great actor and crazy." He is sane, but I wouldn't call him a merely mediocre actor. His first love affair came when he was only twelve years old. It ended unhappily, and he has avoided subsequent ones as far as possible. A correspondent once wrote that she heard he was a woman-hater. He isn't. He likes women but he is afraid of them. He is five feet, eleven inches tall, and weighs one hundred and seventy-six pounds. The biggest fight he ever had in picture work was with Harry Northrup in "Two Women." He refuses to say