Radio Digest (Nov 1930-Apr 1931)

26 L s a / omedian .Tunny WHAT'S Fred Stone like at home? On the stage he is a bubbling, irresistible boy, full of pranks and acrobatic tricks. A flash of his smile and the audience succumbs. From coast to coast, in small hick towns as well as sophisticated, blase Broadway, he enjoys magical popularity. Comedians have a reputation for being tragedians at their own fireside. Morose. Temperamental and bad tempered. Their gayety and laughter is a mask for the world. Their wives and children know a different story. But five minutes with Mrs. Fred Stone dispels this legend so far as her famous husband is concerned. Fred Stone is a happy, warm-hearted man on and off the stage, in and out of the calcium's radiant glare. He is adored by his wife and children just as much as he is by his audiences. When Mrs. Stone speaks of her husband, there is an affectionate look in her eyes. The look of a woman who not only deeply loves her husband, but is deeply loved in return. She does not say it in so many words, but it is evident that she feels she is married to one of the finest and kindliest men in the world and that her marriage is a fairy tale come true — the kind in which the Prince and Princess marry "and live happily ever after." Certainly the hand of Destiny was in their meeting. Both of them grew up in Denver. She, as Allene Crater, was the daughter of one of the most prominent business men in town. She knew nothing of Fred Stone, born in a log cabin on the outskirts of Denver. Each traveled a different path in life — but both Mrs. Fred Stone had their eyes on the theatrical firmament from their earliest childhood. Then, when Fred Stone was starring with Dave Montgomery in The Wizard of Oz, it so happened that he had considerable trouble with the part of the leading woman. He had to engage, in Opi nion of mind, and a nimble sense of humor. She is modern and progressive in her ideas, but yet she has an old-fashioned view of marriage. She possesses a high sense of responsibility toward her nuptial vows. She has never hesitated to place her husband and children before any other inter Carol Stone, the youngest of the three daughters, is at home with her mother. succession, seven young women. The director offered the part twice to Allene Crater and she refused it. The third time she accepted it, and when she stepped into the show as the eighth leading woman, she little dreamed that the shuttle of fate was flying fast, weaving a glittering fabric of her life. When Fred Stone learned her name, he immediately remembered her as the pretty blonde girl who used to drive a pony cart in Denver. They talked about home and the old ranch life. That night he invited her out and it wasn't long before they found that they thought and felt about each other in very much the same way. Certainly if Fred Stone had traveled the world round, he could n.ot have chosen a more ideal mate. Mrs. Stone is a charming, cultured woman, with a tolerant est in life, even when it meant curtailment of her career. One can readily believe her, therefore, when she quietly states that there has rarely been a word of dispute or altercation in their home. That her husband and she are just as eager to be together as they were in the first year of their marriage. "Fred Stone is an intrinsically generous man," she said when discussing the reasons for their marital harmony. "It is especially true where money matters are concerned. There is nothing so humiliating for a woman as to have her husband dole out money to her in bits. To ques