Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1927 - Feb 1928)

67 It Was About Time! Yes, it was about time, the critics agreed, that some one discovered Gertrude Astor. For twelve years she had been struggling for recognition, giving consistently good performances in unimportant parts, before it dawned on the producers that here was an actress of exceptional talent. Now, at last, they are vying for her services. By A. L. Wooldridge I WAS lunching with the blond Gertrude Astor in a cafe on the Boulevard. I was intensely interested in the story she was telling me — the story of her experiences in the drab, lean years during which she had fought single-handed for a foothold in the movies. Thousands of beautiful blondes have arrived in Hollywood hoping to lend their charms to the screen, onhto depart without ever having faced the camera. But this one had stuck aiad strived and emerged, her soul a trifle battle-scarred but happily triumphant. Twelve long, harrowing years Gertrude Astor struggled with the vicissitudes of cinema life before she drove producers to the point of acknowledging her to be a talented actress. And now, they are literally falling over themselves to obtain her services. I wanted to know how she had brought it about. "It is the result," she said, "of a dozen years of hard, unrelenting, heartbreaking effort. You know, I don't believe in this thing of making a star overnight. Time and again, producing companies have suddenly announced a 'great find,' a beautiful girl to be starred immediately, even though she has had no training. Run back over the list of such sudden 'finds,' and name me one who did not glimmer only momentarily and then slowlv slide from view. It can't be done, I tell you. The really successful motion-picture actresses have all, almost without exception, started at the bottom and fought their way up, step by step. Pickford did it. Norma Talmadg'e did it. Gloria Swanson did it. I did it, and I'm very glad I had the e.xperience." Comedy has always been her forte, and her role in " The Sman B achelor " offers her some wonderful opportunities to make the fans laugh. Marv Photo by Freulich Miss Astor, who once had to fight just to get inside the gate of the Universal studio, dictated her own terms to that company ivhen they sought her for the role of Mrs. St. Clare //z "Uncle Tom's Cabin." There was a grim set to her jaw, a trace of fire in her eyes, and a hint of that pugnacity which had helped her over the rough spots in her career. But this attitude was fleeting. In a moment she was a smiling, lovely, soft-eyed girl. "Discouragements?" I asked, seeking to draw her out. She chortled. "Discouragements! Say, if there are any I missed, I'd like to know them. Let's see. Have 3'ou ever gone to your room at night hungry, with not a cent to buy food? Well, I have, lots of times. Then, other times, I tried to heat a little food over the gas log in my room when I couldn't afford to buy a meal at a restaurant. Oh, those were trying days ! It all seems funny to me now, but it was tragedy then. People don't come to your aid, it seems, when vou most need them.. "But one time, some years ago, when I was utterly broke — not a nickel, not a little old red penny — nothing — I went to a garage man who had worked on my tiny car and said, 'I'm broke — I'm hungry — I want to borrow five dollars. I'll pav it back when I can.' And he let me have it. Before I stopped borrowing from him. I had one hundred and eighty-five dollars of his money. When I at last got work, I paid it back.