Picture Stories Magazine (Sept 1914-Feb 1915)

With the Players ■^TARGUERITE CLAYTON enjoys the dis■*-'-■ tinction of playing opposite that popular idol of moving-picture lovers, G. M. Anderson. None of her predecessors have created a more favourable impression than she. Miss Clayton is unique in her wonderful success in the pictures, as, previous to her association with Essanay, she had no experience whatever in any kind of stage work that counts. But what Miss Clayton lacked in experience she made up in brains ; and though her physical attractions are very self-evident, she doesn't rely on them alone for a moment. She is a hard and very earnest worker, and takes both herself and her work very seriously. Marguerite was educated in a convent and joined the Essanay Western Company about a year ago in answer to an advertisement, which, as it turned out, was one of the best investments at nominal cost on record. Neither of her parents have been on the stage. They live in Utah and her father is a wealthy retired mining engineer. She recently received a real fright when portraying a difficult part in a play called " Broncho Billy, a Friend in Need." In one scene Miss Clayton supposes Broncho Billy to be a thief. She points a revolver at his head and declares she will shoot if he does not hold up his hands. Her finger was on the trigger when Mr. Anderson, his hands high above his head, calmly ordered the camera man to stop the picture. The company was greatly surprised until Mr. Anderson took the revolver from Miss Clayton and removed six cartridges from its cylinder. The actress nearly fainted when she saw how close she had come to shooting the Essanay leading man. The revolver, it seems, belonged to Mr. Anderson, and he had forgotten to remove the cartridges after his previous day's target practice. Miss Clayton had a surprise the other morning on arriving at the studio at Niles, California. She was confronted by a serious-looking man in clerical garb who presented her with a bible. He said he had seen her use an old and torn one in several pictures, and had travelled several hundred miles to present her personally with a new one. How Marguerite's pet cub bear saved her jewellery from burglary on one occasion makes interesting reading. The cub, which was recently given to her by a friend, sleeps in a chair near her bed. The robber went through her dressing chest and extracted all her jewels. Evidently thinking the sleeping bear was a valuable fur, he grasped it none too gently. The indignant bear gave a snarl and snapped the intruder on the wrist. The much surprised burglar let out a howl of surprise and pain. Not knowing what the furry thing was that clung to him and bit and clawed, he dropped his plunder and fled in terror. By the time Miss Clayton roused the villagers, who quickly turned out with their guns, the burglar had escaped in the darkness. Report has it that she is leaving the Essanay to join the Liberty Company. We much regret to hear that this clever lady last month fell from a stage-coach and fractured her leg in several places, and that her recovery is likely to take some time. ATISS MURIEL OSTRICHE came to the -'-'-' pictures without previous stage experience of any kind. She is a very popular young lady for whom the Princess brand of pictures were specially created by the late president of the Thanhouser Film Corporation (Chas. J. Hite), who wanted an ingenue lead — one with russet brown hair. Her work with Boyd Marshall in Princess Films has been marked with much success. Miss Ostriche occasionally plays in the Thanhouser films and recently did splendid work as Mary McLaren in the two-part drama, "The Strike." She has just passed her seventeenth birthday and was a leading lady at fifteen, playing extra at the Biograph studio after high-school hours. After that she played for Pathe's and then joined the Eclair Stock Company. Miss Ostriche is an excellent dancer, a clever tangoist, and has won several silver cups and other prizes in dancing competitions. She is an artiste of exceptional ability, being particularly good in dramatic roles. Her home is in New York. MARGUERITA FISCHER, formerly on the legitimate stage, at first thought it infra dig. to act in pictures, and after nine months with the Selig Company went back for a short time. The attractions of the screen became too alluring, and the desire to get away from the hardships of travelling on the road, also to be able to settle down in one place, decided the matter, much to the benefit of Marguerita's many friends and admirers. We give a portrait in our present supplement of this charming photoplayer.