Screenland (Jul–Dec 1946)

she was so overcome that she left the party of friends she had brought to the theater and rushed out into the street, running for blocks before she knew what she had done. Judging from this we may assume that Michael was quite the matinee idol, but he modestly passed on to another subject when I tried to enlarge this thought. But as for his wife, he is tireless in proclaiming her virtues. Miss Betty Raskin, who has come to know her very well since she started handling the actor's career, has nicknamed her Juliette. She says that only Shakespeare's famous lovers could have been closer than her client and his wife. "There was one amusing thing about our courtship that might give your readers a laugh," Chekhov told me. "Her family felt that an actor was a little beneath Julia on the social scale and tried to discourage her from seeing me. Everything else failing, they bought her a beautiful Spitz dog to distract her attention from me, but I overcame that competition and was finally received into the family. From then on I have been on the friendliest possible terms with my inlaws." The happiness of his marriage has been a great help to the actor's career by his own admission, and without his wife he doubtless would be a lonely man. Today he doesn't have a single livingblood relative left. Taking a wife was not the only single important event during his lifetime in Russia, however, for during his early years his country underwent two great social revolutions in 1905 and 1917. Never inclined toward politics, though. Chekhov was almost entirely oblivious to these events because of his absorption in the theater. The theater in Russia has always been subsidized by the state and a changing regime didn't make much difference in the quality of work. By 1928 Chekhov decided he had gone as far as he could in his native land, and he decided to fulfill an old desire to go to other countries and study their theaters and acting methods. His first stops were Berlin and Vienna, where he acted in Max Reinhardt's productions, and then he went on to Paris, Prague, Kaunas and Riga, where he arranged a school for the Latvian Actors' Union. An American tour in 1935 brought high praise from the critics, who acclaimed him as a brilliant and highly gifted actor. This tour resulted in an invitation to establish the Chekhov Theater Studio at Dartington Hall, England. In 1939 the theater moved to Ridgefield, Conn., where a series of productions were prepared for a road tour in 1940. Among some of the plays that were done in the Chekhov Theater were "King Lear" and "Twelfth Night." Mr. Chekhov not only directed these plays but designed the sets and costumes. This tour, from Maine to Texas, evoked warm, critical praise resulting in a Broadway engagement in December, 1941. Chekhov's introduction to Hollywood came when Gregory Raloff, at the suggestion of Sergei Rachmaninoff, persuaded him to come to MGM studios to play the r61e of Susan Peter's father in "Song of Russia." As tar as the actor and his wife are concerned they have found the place where they want to live from now on. Chekhov sees no reason why he can't direct and lecture as well as act in Hollywood, and, in fact, there already have been invitations for him to establish a school in the film colony. He is now directing a play for the Actors' Laboratory, one of the most important theater groups in Hollywood. He piloted one of his old favorites for them — Gogol's "Inspector General," in which he himself has enacted Khlestakov dozens of times. Seeing the Chekhovs at home it is understandable why they are content with their present lot. They live in a simple, six-room farmhouse on an acre of land in the San Fernando Valley. They have a large garden where they grow their own vegetables and enough room for the actor to cultivate roses. "You might say," laughed Chekhov, "that our home is practically run by our four wire-haired terriers." Chekhov is a firm believer in the simple life and is a very religious man. He has been a member of an Anthroposophical Society since 1922, by which his spiritual beliefs are guided. To give you an idea of his friendliness, when he did "Spellbound" on the air with Ingrid Bergman last year, he showed up at the studio with a gift surprise for her — a basket of grapes he and his wife had picked from their own arbor. The Chekhov table is always graced by simple fare, including vegetables from their garden, and always an abundant supply of goat's milk. They have one goat and Mrs. Chekhov does the milking. The actor and his wife entertain very little in their small circle of friends, and Hollywood night life just doesn't exist for them. Chekhov himself has one absorbing hobby outside of his various interests in the theater, namely chess. He invites all experts, and master players around Hollywood have a healthy respect for his skill. He also paints, and before he does a role he sketches the character he is going to portray from every angle so that he may view it objectively. This is part of the thoroughness of his early training in Russia. In this connection, it is fascinating to watch him direct. He has an exact concept of how every role should be played and acts out each character from bits to the lead to show the cast how he feels it should be done. He is a master of everything from the broadest comedy to the bleakest tragedy. In all his long fidelity to art Chekhov has taken on a minimum of the eccentricities that usually mark a fellow of his acknowledged ability. He has, in fact, just one pronounced phobia. He dcte ts parking an automobile and would as soon not start out on a trip in his car unless he knows there will be ample room to park the machine when he reaches his destination. Miss Raskin always knows what she will hear when she calls to tell him he has been set for a role at one of the studios. As she begins to enlighten him as to the major details of the deal he invariably stops her. "Before we go into that," he will say, "tell me— how are the parking arrangements at that lot?" 96 S (' I! E K N L A V n