Variety (Sep 1948)

WcJncMlay, September 29, 1948 75 OBITUARIES WARREN WILLIAM Warren William, 53, stage and screen actor, died Sept. 24 at his tiome in Encino, Cal., after a long illness. After serving with the Army in France during World War I, Wil- liam played stock in Erie, Pa., toured with a road company in "1 Love You" and appeared on Broad- way in the Rachel Crothers play, "Expressing Willie," Moving to Hollywood in 1932, William achieved success in roles «f the district attorney type and played in numerous pictures, in- cluding "The Great Mouthpiece," "Th6 Match King," "Goodbye Again," "Gold Diggers ot 1933," "The Case of the Howling Dog," "The Dragon Murder Case," "Go West, Young Man," "The Firefly," "Madame X," "Daytime Wife" and « series of Columbia pictures titled "The Lone Wolf." His last picture was "Bel Ami," made two years ago. After that he retired from pictures 1>ut appeared on several radio programs. His wife, Helen, survives. They had been married 25 years. EUGENE C, COWLES Eugene Chase Cowles, 88, noted basso of the.^concert and opera stage, died in Boston, Sept. 22. Cowles financed his study of music and voice through a posi- tion as a bank clerk in St. Paul. Me made his debut with the Bos- tonians Opera Go. in 1888. He re* mained with that group until 1898, when he went abroad'for further study. While in London, in 1901, he ap- geared with the. Alice Neilson ipera Co. In later yeavsi he 'ap- peared with various other com- panies and often was called "the American De Keske." As Will Scarlet in "Robin Hood," Cowles offered the "Anvil Song" and "Brown October Ale," rendi- tions which are still - Temembered by an earlier generation of music ■ lover.s. His career closed in 1922, when he appeared as leading basso In "(yhu Chin Chow, Terence Rattigan's "The Winslow Boy" Was taken to the U. S., he was forced to withdraw from the cast because of poor health. eeJlier, Since his: first appearance on the stage in 1905, earned a i bf" Our""Lives^ reputation for being the stage's most polished murderer. He was last seen in this counti-y in the BrilLsh film, "Quiet Week-end," in whose stage version he also starred in London. His two Jegit appear- ances in this country were in "Zaza" in 1916 and "Mozart" In 1926. Other plays in which he had roles included "Sweet Lavender" and "Cheer Boys, Cheer!." as one of the world's standout camera handlers, Toland won sev- eral Academy Award VOscars?" for his work. Starting at Fox Films as an office boy, Toland was later promoted to cameraman for the company, He worked exclusively for Samuel Goldwyn until 1933 but afterwards freelanced in pictures for Goldwyn; Metro, David O. Selznick and RKO. Among the pictures in which his work was lauded are "Best Years "Citizen Kane," 'Wuthering Heights," "Little Foxes," "Grapes of Wrath" and "Intermezzo." Survived by his wife, the former Virginia Thorpe, actress. vV'' '.AL.SILBEItjMAN:' > Al Silberniani 62, wlio, hud' tieen a ■ vaude .agent for 30 years, died after a heart attack Sept, 27 in Ne w York* He. fotmei:ly held . a lirii ¥ T«M If iMADDia Loew franchise. Silberman was a win!^m p^n;.^^?" .»Hr»^ nephew of the late Lou Anger, also HiJ^"«ilV ^Si "f^'^t^ an agent for many years, and a l*f;^„''^'^^',.^'.''il*?*%iLfUr^^ <;oUsin of Harry Anger, of General Percy Williami Home at East Islip, L>. .1.'' ■' . At the turn , of th« century he first appeared' with the Castle Square Theatre company in Boston. He appeared with Blanche Walsh in repertoire and later appeared with Barney Bernard in ''Partners Again." He had also appealed in vaudeville sketches with Helen Ware, H. B. Warner, and Richard Bennett. In more recent years he appeared in "Dodsworth" and "Ethan Fronie," Survived by wife, Ella Clay Mor- ris, and a sister. DR. PETER C. CORNELL Dr. Peter C. Cornell. 83, physi- cian and _5howman and father; of Katharine -Cornell, .. actressdied at his home in. Bultalb, N. Y.i :Sept.,24.; . • Miss Cornell had beert with jier father for the;.last three weeks.. ^ Dr. Cornell., a native o£ Buffalo, was graduated from the TJniyersity of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1888 and did graduate work at the University of Berlin. He prac- ticed medicine In Buffalo for a short time but soon turned to the theatre, in which he had long been interested. He was active in theatrical pro- duction in Buffalo for a quarter of a century. At one time he man- He was tlie aged, three Buffalo theatres at the Artists Corp. theatre dept Survived by a brother and three sisters. STELLA R. LE SAINT Stella Razetto Le Saint. 67, screen actress, died Sept. 21 at Malibu Beach, Cal. Miss Le Saint made her film bow in "The Three Bad Men" at Uni- versal and continued to play char^ acter roles until a short time be- fore her death. MIRIAM HOLLAND Miriam Holland, 31, actress and wife of Jack - Holland, fan mag writer, died in Hollywood, Sept. 24, while appearing in a benefit show at B'nai Zion Temple. In addition to husband, she is survived by her mother, a son and two brothers. Musical Show Enigma Continued from p.i g* 1 IN MEMORIAM Mo^t (tumble Saplambtr 27, 1f47. : We'ir olway* mlii yon . THE STAFF OF WARNER'S MUSIC COS. FRANK T. ANDERSON Frank Tucker Anderson, 86, music publisher, died at his home in Chicago, Sept. 26. He was presi- dent of the Anderson Bros, music firm, when he retired two years ago. Survived by wife and a daugliter. HARRY O'DEMPSET Harry O'Dempsey, 65, died at Dublin, Ireland,: Sept. 17. He was tenor with O'Mara: Opera Co., and recently manager of Empire Cin- ema, Galway, and Fairview Grand Cinema, Dublin^ Survived by wife and a'daughter. composer of 40 songs, among them "Forgotten." He leaves his wife, Mrs; Louise Cleary Cowles. LEO WHITE . Leo White, 68, film' comedian and character actor, died in. Holly- wood, Sept. 21. The total of films which he had played in ran reputedly to 2,000: His best known -eharacterization was the French Count in the early Charlie Chaplin comedies.-For the' last 14 years a stock . player at Warner Bros, he played his last role in "My Wild Irish Rose," por- traying Joe' Weber, of Weber & same time, the Academy of Music, the Teck and the Star. PAUL D. ROSINI Paul David Rosini, 45, magi- cian, died in Chicago, Sept. 19. He had f.ppeared at Loop thea- {tres, hotels and niterles. I Survived by wife, father-and two brolliers. BARNEY WILLIAMS ■ Barney Williams, 68,' former- vaudeville actor, died Sept. 22 in HolJywood: - ; , , . He was known, off-stage as Ber- nard A. Wilhelm. and "U. S. A.", are being produced in wholesale fashion this. season, with two ("Small Wonder" and "Hilarities") already presented, an- other ("Lend An Ear") due soon from the Coast, and five more in preparation. Most experienced musical show- men regard the revue as one of the^ most difficult of all shows to put across. However, they claim, the revue looks deceptively -simple to the tyro. That's particularly true pf successful revues, just as it is with a successful show of any kind. In other words, the more skillful the creative job, the easier it looks to the uninitiated. Attract Eager Newcomers But musical comedies, also a tough sort of show to do, according to the top people in that field, likewise attract the. eager new- comers with ready money (or ac-. cess to same). It's remarked that a musical comedy has all the ele- ments of a straight play to be weld- ed into a single theme, plus two completely different elements-^ music and dance. An "Oklahoma!" looks simple' when the • finished production is seen on the stage, but not even Richard Rodgers and Cscar Hammerstein. 2di have ever put together another one as suc- cessful. Yet there have already been two book shows ("Heaven on Earth" and 'Magdalena ■') presented on Broadway this fall, with five others imminent ("Love Life," "Where's Charley?', "That's the Ticket," "My Romance" and "As the Girls Go"), and 17 more listed to go into rehearsal presently. : All this in the face of only a limited number of available Broadway houses suit- able for musical productions, ("Ticket" closes Saturday (2) in Philadelphia.) Hammerstein is one of those who believes that the example of last season's hit shows may have been- influential in the number of mu- sicals this season. "All fashions and trends go in cycles," lie says;t "A few seasons ago no one was doing revues. Except for the solr- dier shows, Irving Berlin's 'This Is the Army' and Harold Rome's •Call Me Mister,' there, had been practically no revues produced in years until: 'Make Mine . Manhat- tan,' 'Angel In the Wings' and 'Inside U. S. A.' .succeeded last season. I believe the revue is the most difficult musical show to do. and I'd be scared to attempt one." Rodgers, Hammerstein Aeree Rodgers more or less agrees with his collaborator and production as- sociate. However, ; he suggests that the indications' of a bumper musical crop this sea.son may be exaggerated, that many of the an- IGNATZ RICHTER Ignatz Richter, 102, father of the late Mrs. Tillis Leblang Jasie, for-1 mer operator, with her first hus- band, the late Joseph Leblang, of i Leblang's ticket agency on Broad- I Anthony J. Roman, 61, one of actually be done, either because of way, died in New York, Sept. 20. j the fir.st motion picture projection- i insufficient financing or other rea- For nearly a generation^ until I ists in Albany area and electrician ' sons. ' at Warners'Strand in that city for I "I'm pretty sure that no mass are poor ones. There always have been musicals and there always will be." Schwartz Tells of Cycles Arthur Schwartz, composer-pro- ducer of "Inside U. S. A.", at the Majestic, N. Y., agrees that all sorts of theatrical trends go in cycles, adding that the cause is never a single factor but a combination of many things. "A hit musical nat- urally inspires imitation," he thinks, "but the public qujckly tires of poor ones, so then they tend... to disappeai'—until someone does a good one again , and thus revives interest and repeats the cycle. "But there may be a psycholog'^ ical element involved, too. There's a tendency toward lightness rather than seriousness today. That's man- ifested in the appeal of musicals :and also comedies. The same emo- ; tional upset that is gripping the public is also affecting artistic people, who find it more difficult to do serious work. Besides, con- temporary events sometimes date serious plays, but rarely hurt com- edies or musicals." Helen Tamiris, choreographer of "Inside U. S. A." and "Annie Get Your Gun," is convinced that there's a strong emotional influ- ence behind the current emphasis on light forms of entertainment. "In such a period of world crisis as this, serious drama is a chore," - she says. "That's unfortunate, be-. cause there's a need for serious thought. People have the urge to escape, to run away from some- thing they should face. "I believe that mighty thihgs are cooking in the world. Great event* invariably produce great art. There is a time lapse. One must not be impatient. It takes time, but the great art will come," MARRIAGES Evelyne Love Cooper to Budd Getschal in N. Y. today (Wednes- day). Bride is lyricist and special material writer; he's former ad exec at Paramount and now v.p. of Stuart Bart, Inc., ad agency. Lorita Maloney to Robert P. Carey, Chicago, Sept. 21. Bride la a radio and nitery singer; he's a publicist. Audrey Summa to William Kin- dig. Hollywood, Sept. 20. Bride Is an Earl Carroll showgirl. Lillian Slavin to Daniel Smith, Sept. 25, New York. Bride is in the theatre dept. of the William Morris Agency. Annette Hatcher to Don Roper, Gaffney, S. Carolina. Oct, 2. He's producer-director for WTTG, Du- Mont Washington outlet. Virginia Hobbs to Paul Loyet, Dcs Moines, Sept. 17. lie's vee- ::V/V;-.--^::-;,BlRTHS7^';^.-,v.::^{^^ , , : , — ~, , v...j .v. Mr,: ftHd 'Mr.s. EdwArd Morsc, was regarded as an authority on the past 29 years, died Sept. 18 in ' urge for lipht entertainment is re- daugliter, Hollywood, Sept. 18. he-retired 20 jear-s ago, Richter dramatic productions.and was as- sociated with the Leblang Agency. He was born in Hungary and came to America 82 years ago. ' Survivjng are six sons, and a Memorial Hospital, Albany, heart ailment. of a ; .sponsible," he says, "If it were I how would you explain the months of solid .sellout business at Fields. He also took a bit part i daughter. His daughter Mrs. Ja.sie In "The Fountain Head." A native of Manchester, England, AVhitc was a music hall favorite around the turn of the century. He i died in .1945. [■'\'':--r v...::. ■ • ■[ I DICK POWELL I Diek Powell, a film stunt flierl Andres Acero, 51, treasurer of the .savings fund of the Picture Pro- duttion Workers Union (STPC), died in the union's headquarters in Mexico City. Al Kent, 50, film salesman for man Esseiiay Co.; In 1914 he teamed with Wallace Beery in the "Swedie" comedies.. He and Chaplin separated on the termination of the short- comedy series, but when "The Great Dictator" was made, Chap- lin engaged his old colleague to play tlie French barber. came to the U. S. a feW years later ^ ^ „^ relation to the star of the ■ tt,;,, n,,.,. «;,.nt 9-? in nmiv under the auspices of Daniel Froh- ^-^u^X e»r.t 9fi Universal, died Sept. 23 in Holly- Ile entered films with the performing' )n"Terl"al'''rircus"'at' S^rigerj?. Hales Corners, near Milwaukee. Powell was hanging by his feet frdni wires and was unaWe to pull himself back bh tUa wing. He fell 200 feet Father is a casting director. Mr. and Mrs. Merrill E. .Toels, A'son, Ne.v Yoik, Sept. 24. Father Streetcar Named Desire.' That's ' a radio actor, hardly escapist entertainment. Nor i '^'"n.?"? Mr.?, Bernard Hendel. were 'Command Decision' and 'The P'ttsburgh, Sept. 17. Mother Heiress,' both of which did big bus- , iness for a. full reason- is daughter of Irving Frankel, RK0 city salesriiari in Pitt. , ; . , write a wonderful serious play, say one about why the war happened, it would be a Ireinendous smash, a U-1 salesman. Mr and Mrs. .lay Reich, son, in Pittsbuigh, Sept. 15. Mother is DR. K. P. KOSTAKOS Dr. Konstantine P. Kostakos, 40, son-in-law of Mike Manos, circuit exhibitor In Pittsburgh and a partr. ner of Manos in the ownership "of the Elkins, W. Va., theatres, was killed in an automobile crash on Jsept. 5 near Haydenville, Pa. Dr. Kostakos was headed for his home in Klkins when his car swerved from the road and hit a tree. . Dr. .Jtoskatos narrowly escaped death in New York several years ago while on a visit there when he walked into an open elevator shaft on the 17th floor of a hotel. He broke his fall by grabbing a cable wire. Kostakos and his father-in- He had appeared in many air pictures, including' "iThe Cloud Rider," "The Air Hawk," "The Great Air Mail Robbery'," "Dawn Patrol," "Hell's Angels" and "Blaze of -Noon."-. NOAH REYNOLDS Noah Reynolds, former actor who had appeared, in stock and travel- ing legits tor ; many years, died Sept. 19 at his home in North Phil- adelphia: ■ Slarly in his career ha hgd ap- peared with. Forepaugh's and ;the Girard stock conipanies In Philly and later became one of the film FDR Film Continued from page I even better than 'Mister Roberts.' , daughter of Sid Jacobs, WB district But It's too. soon after the war for [ theatre manager, that, from Creative : work must inner ■ conviction. It arise come fforh: enjotiofial experience tliaf has become- part of one's per- sonality. The war was only three the Democrats. United Artists, the | years ago. If anyone could put distributors, has therefore tempo rarily withdrawn it. Between the U.. Sv and foreign take,', film: is expected just about to get oft the nut' on the $200,000 Jt cost to put it together, score it, pay for prints and advertising, etc, plus UA's distribution fee. It was produced by ■ Tola Productions, comprising New York circuit op- erator. Harry- ■ Brandt, M art in Levine, Brandt's general manager, and Oliver Unger. They Invested a good bit of their own • money; with 'the rest coming from a pioneers in this area. He appeared in numerous film productions for ijozen or so New York business Lubin Studies and McCurdy FilnT ; Co. In recent years he was, em ployed at the Universal Exchange Jaw entered exhibition together in i in Phill.v Elkins prior to the first accident. | Surviving are hii wife, a daugh He was an ex-staff member at tcr and two sisters Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Tola figures to profit on "Roose- velt'.' eventually from, 16m, video and other auxiliary rights, there already, having, been . considerable demand fi-om those quarters. It is also counting on a good bit of the- atre income eventually, when the Roosevelt name Is disassociated emotional experience Into artistic form in three years there'd be three-year-old painters — and I mean three-year-old masters." Irving Berlin, whose "Annie Get Your Gun," at the; Imperial, is cur- rently the longest-run; musical on Broadway, also minimizes the psy- chological factor in the. unusual number of tune shows; "There may 'be more musicals; than in recent seasons," he observes; "but most of them are bad musicals; They're what I call parlor musicals. That is, they're the kind that are entertain- ing in a private home, hut evap- orate in the theatre, "Some- of the people producing musicals the.se days tend to be ad- venturers. They have no- real show business experience, background or taste. They do musicals because they think that's the ea.slest'show to do, and becau.se they want to get more 'action' for their money than GREGG TOLAND : FRANK CELLIBR Gregg Toland, 44, ace camera* glSSeSuctAdtU^oS feslciV moniihg' 'w"^. with politics and takes on the aura ; a straight play provides. But the Sepf. 27. Last year, shortly before ' Hollj\\ood.. Generally recognized of history. .) oiUy, TOiisicals that are ea,sy to do : .''i-.Mai',l iV'i'.'.' ."s M'v. '■ ;^ <i ♦ ".f Mr., and Mrs. John; Bailey^ son, must ■ Pittsburgh, Sept. 18. Mother is daughter of Harry Thomas, vet WB manager in Pitt. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Stabile, daugb-; ter, Hollywood, Sept. 24. Failier is a musician and brather of Dick Stabile, orch leader. ;^ Mr. and Mrs. Ring Lardnrr;" Jr.i son, Hollywood, Sept, 15: Father Is a screen writer. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Sheils, son, Hollywood, Sept. 21. Fallier is: manager of Modernaire.s, . '. Mr. and Mrs. Wally . Helirfs,. daughter. Chicago, Sept. 17, Father is RKO flack. Mr. and Mrs. Mario Olvia, son,, Chicago, Sept. 22. Father's asst. manager of LaSalle f,heatie, Chi. ' Mr; and Mrs. Jerry Lewis, son,? Hollywood. Sept. 24. Fathci- is a radio writer. • Mr. and ■ Mrs. William Moss, daughter, Santa Monica, Sept. 26;; Mother K Jane Withers, film aC:- tress; father is film produir'et; Mr and Mrs. Arthur Reini.inj daughter. New York, Sept, 26. Father is head- of Film Classics.* contract approval dept.; ; .; : Mr. and Mrs. Tom GlennonV soil, N. Y. Father is singer-dancer in "High Button Shoes" company in N. y. ' ■ ■■■■■ ■