The Photo-Play Journal (Jul 1919-Feb 1921)

November, 1920 35 Wes Barry Arrives W-. By PETER GRIDLEY SMITH HY don't they star that youngster?" . This has been the popular question among motion picture audiences during the past year when the figure of Wesley Barry flashed on the silver sheet. In the vernacular of the profession, Wesley, or "Dinty," as he is known around the studio, has on many occasions, "stolen the picture" through the sheer artistry of his performances. He has appeared with some of the greatest stars of the silent drama and has run a close second to these stars for first honors in the accomplishments of the individuals in the cast. Undoubtedly one of the most lovable personalities on the screen, this thirteen-year-old boy today possesses talents in histrionic art that puts many of his older professional brothers and sisters in the background. Wesley is a natural born actor. Some three year. ■ ago he was just the son of the owner of a little grocery store in Hollywood — nothing more. At this time he was "discovered" by Marshall Neilan. the producer-director responsible for the success of half a dozen of the more popular stars of today. In him Mr. Neilan saw possibilities of a future star. A small part in one of his pictures convinced the director that the future held big things for the homely freckle-faced youngster. He was boy plus a wealth of boy's personality. Then began a careful moulding of this youngster's endowed genius. Slowly but surely he became the master of his emotions and an artist in portraying them. In each succeeding picture under Mr. Neilan's personal schooling he grew with his parts, each of which was more difficult than the former. This schooling was not confined to the immediate demands of the motion picture studio, but branched into specific fields of study that would benefit the boy in his future endeavor as an actor. Elementary schooling under a capable tutor was but part of his education. Travel and history were intensified in the schooling of this youth Physical instructions in athletics, riding and swimming became an important factor in his learnings. Periods, costumes and research were tackled. Being naturally a bright boy, his studies were digested with surprising mental capacity, with the result that today Wesley Barry is one of the best informed youths of his age in the country, and he is still going strong in his endeavor for education. Thus we have a boy that has been brought nip on an intensive educational plan for the position he is about to hold. He is a product of the motion picture, raised for the motion picture. Wesley is today one in a thousand as regards all-round education for a boy of his age. Yet this education in its every branch is studied by the youngster through the eyes of a motion picture actor. Everything he learns is stored away with the viewpoint of how it can prove beneficial to him in his future work. Books he reads with a "camera eye," picturing each scene in his mind, and thus permanently photographing new thoughts for future reference. This is an age of specialization, and Wesley's education has been planned as carefully as a course in chemistry or law for the youth who aspires to accomplishments in these fields of endeavor. Thus, with this specialized schooling, plus his natural inclinations in the histrionic pastures of art and a wonderful personality of unusual magnetic force, it is little to be wondered that he has reached a position in motion picture circles, where people everywhere ask the opening question of this article. For months this question has remained unanswered by Marshall Neilan, the force behind Wesley Barry. Just as his general education progressed step by step under Mr. Neilan's eye, so his schooling in the field of drama progresssed, one step after another. The tendency to skip the boy from the first or second step to the top when his success appeared certain would have predominated in nine directors out of ten had they been the controlling factor of Wesley's progress. But not so with Marshall Neilan. In a more matured person such action would have {Continued on page 55)