Variety (May 1918)

VARIETY 15 MATA HARY The life story of Mat a Hary, recently executed at Vicennes, France, as a German spy. She was a noted dancer on the Continent. The daily press has printed much regarding her life, very little of which has been authentic. The following was contributed by a reader of Variety who zvishes to remain unknown, but who is familiar with her earlier history through hav- ing become acquainted zvith Mat a Hary in the Island of Java. Mata Hary's first husband zvas a Dutch colonial (not a British) army officer, the latter having been erroneously published in several accounts. Nor had the dancer ever been in Burmah as stated in some papers. "The artist of international fame" zvho introduced her in Paris is an operatic star of world-wide renown. Though of German extraction, Mar- garetha Zelle, the noted dancer who called herself Mata Hary and was shot as a spy in German pay, claimed Dutch nationality on the strength of her birth in Holland. Her parents, inhabitants of Leeuwarden (capital of Friesland), intended her to become a teacher. Little suited for that calling by rea- son of her vivacious character, her studies were broken off in consequence of her engagement to an officer (Mac- leod) of the Dutch colonial army on home leave, whom she married and followed to Java. There a boy and a girl were born to them. The boy died under suspicious circumstances and her highly nervous temperament incited her to shoot her native gardener who, she believed, had poisoned her child. The notoriety at tained by his wife's rash act and other considerations led to her husband re- signing his commission. After a brief sojourn in the interior of the island, the couple returned to Holland with their little daughter. Captain or Major—the higher titular rank granted with his pension—and Mrs. M.'s wedded life was not a happy one. Their divorce did not astonish their friends. Already stage-struck when at school and with natural gifts for dancing in its most sensational manifestations, Mrs. Zelle (who had resumed her maiden name) profited by what she had seen in Java of the na- tive bayaderes, of the Susuhanan of Solo's and Sultan of Jogja's corps de ballet tripping the light fantastic toe, to develop pseudo-oriental poses and paces of her own, adapting the tandak of ronggengs and shrimpies to the ex- igencies of the western taste. An artist of international fame in- troduced her in Paris, and soon she found herself a favorite. Her exotic appearance and magnetic personality helped her materially in acquiring and retaining influential patronage as an expounder of the peppery dance. Her public performances attracted additional attention by whispered tales of what she risked in private exhibi- tions of her art. One of her most ap- plauded dances in select gatherings of enthusiastic admirers, wealthy enough to pay for the privilege, was a quasi-idealised imitation of an Arabic stunt which students of choregraphy may have seen presented in more sor- did surroundings, for instance, in the old Fish Market of Cairo, but, on the whole, there more naturally and clev- erly done. In its original form it is the materialized story of a girl, an- noyed by an insect, throwing off first her outer, then her inner garments, in hot pursuit of the intruder, bent on murderous revenge. The fundamental idea of the offen- sive insect was eliminated from Mata Hary's rendering. Nevertheless she divested herself of the different items of her scanty if magnificent dress, in slow or rapid succession according to mood and occasion, until nothing re- mained to cover her except her richly jeweled girdle and breast-plates, her glittering necklace and bracelets and anklets. Her dark, expressive eyes enhanced the effect of the snake-like movements of her supple, graceful body, intensifying the spell cast by its fas- cinating display. At last, as if ex- hausted by the ecstatic rapture which she simulated to perfection, she sank down before an image in gold of Buddha. Thereupon a handmaiden, appointed to that task, fluttered in to throw a black cloak over the prostrate figure of her mistress, the pseudo-priestess of Indra, and, to the measure of an imitation Javanese melody, coaxed from an imitation gamelan, the cur- tain descended on this jumble of spu- rious orientalism. However incon- gruous, it eased and Mata Hary (which means Eye of the Day—Malay equivalent of our sun) shone wherever she went with increasing splendor, de- rived from the diamonds, pearls and rubies showered on her, inflaming the imagination of the gilded youth of all ages in the several capitals of Europe. On her triumphal march she met a German diplomat, whose generous friendship defrayed the expenses of her costly household in a stately man- sion at Neurilly-sur-Seine, but whose jealous disposition caused many an •interruption of their relations, during which her affections wandered in all directions. Notwithstanding such di- gressive episodes, to one of which she owed a fine summer residence in Brittany, a soft spot in her heart drew her always back to her German diplo- mat, who was again her chosen pro- tector when the war broke out. After his departure from Paris in the early days of August, 1914, it was re- marked that, giving up her public per- formances, Mata Hary crossed the Channel frequently, mindful as never before of the education of her daugh- ter in England. One of her victims, ruined by his infatuation for her, is said to have directed the watchful eye of the French secret service to the for- eign activities of the noted artiste, whose automobile was a conspicuous object in the streets of the French capital, lately oftener in the quarters where the military bureaux are located than in the neighborhood of the music halls and other resorts of nocturnal diversion that counted her among their stars. The more notice was taken of her reappearance at the Folies Ber- gcre in the quality of a visitor, accom- panied by a reputed Russian Grand Duke whose plethora of showy decora- tions created almost as much of a sensation as her gown in the confec- tion of which a celebrated women's tailor of the Rue dc la Paix had sur- passed himself. Meanwhile the French secret service shadowed her and her peregrinations to the town in England where the tanks are built and to Spain where she associated with a man, spotted as a German agent. One evening the frequenters of the cafes on the Great Boulevards were startled by a persistent rumor that she had been arrested at the Grand Hotel where, too, she had an apartment. The rumor spoke true and the charge preferred against her was that of ob- taining drawings of the tanks and of passing them on to Berlin with other information. A court-martial con- demned her to death. She appealed to a court of revision which confirmed the sentence pronounced in first in- stance. A few days later, at dawn, she was taken from the prison of St. Lazarc, the well-known house of correction for female sinners, to the parade ground at Vinccnnes for the sentence to be NEW ACTS. Lawrence and DeVorney, who have been married for a year, have teamed. Vera McKenna, who has been doing a single and Ethel Phillips, who was a dancer with the Chicago Opera As- sociation, have joined. The Franklin Four, comedy cooks (Irving Shannon). Ethel Corley, Verna Felton and Co., in a comedy-dramatic sketch, "The Answer" (4 people), by Ethel Corley, at the Orpheum theatre, Oakland, last week. Miss Corley is the wife of Harry Cornell, .manager of the Orpheum, Oakland. James Madison is writing three new- acts for well known turns. The teams are Kate Elinore and Sam Williams, Barnes and Robinson and Rawls and Von Kaufman. Phillip De Voe has taken over and is appearing in "The Hat Salesman," the former Frank Mclntyre comedy playlet. Helen Lowell, from the legitimate, in a condensed ver.sion of "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" (Jos. Hart). Jessie Morris, debut as a single, material by Jean Havez. Adele Rowland reappearing. Palace, New York, May 6 (Edw. S. Keller). Irving and Ward (Lewis and Gor- don). Eva Puck (formerly of Two Pucks) single. Lottie Horner, single. Sullivan and Meyers in a new turn. ILL AND INJURED. Ed Schiller fell and broke his arm while taking a bath at a Memphis hotel. He was making an inspection tour of Loew southern time, of which he is general representative. Mr. Schiller is at his home in Atlanta and will be con- fined there for three weeks. Idyl G. Dial, dancer, and Marguerite Daniels, formerly with "Hichy Koo," have recovered from operations for appendicitis and have left the Ameri- can Theatrical Hospital, Chicago. Myrtle Dunedin (Dunedin Duo) re- ported ill in San Francisco with the male Dunedin continuing the act alone at the Hippodrome there the first of the week. Mrs. Alex. Pantages was operated upon at the Clara Barton Hospital, Los Angeles, last week. She is recov- ering. Lieut. Charles Barton, manager Lib- erty theatre, Camp Meade, Md., is out after a recent illness. He suffered se- verely with gall stones. Joseph Leblang is ill in Mount Sinai Hospital, with an ailment of the leg. His affliction is responding satisfac- torily to treatment. Jeff Callan, manager of the 23d Street, is at Lakewood, N. J., for a rest. John Lampe is acting in his absence. Valeska Suratt has canceled next week at Keith's, Cincinnati, through illness. BIRTHS. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cardinal (Jean- ette Dix), both formerly with "The Hoosicr Girl" company, at their home in New York, son. Mr. and Mrs. Chester Kingston (Chi- nese Puzzle) at their home in Brook- lyn, April 26, son. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Williams (Wil- liams and Ward), April 22, at Latrobc, Pa., son. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Wise, in San Francisco, April 21, a son. Mr. and Mrs. Bobby O'Ncil, April 29, son. executed. It must have been a hard duly for her judges and finally for the firing squad, to inflict capital punish- ment on the beautiful, erratic creature whose impressionable nature had sub- jected her to a power which utilized for its sinister purposes her personal attractiveness and accomplishment de votion to the service of TerpMchord. But fate willed that the Sun of many a &ay entertainment should dismally set by Mata Hary receiving the bullet as an instrument of German ambition. IN AND OUT. A. Anderson, trainer Little Hip (ele- phant), injured his leg while working the animal last week and had to lay off the first half of this week. The ac- cident occurred while a date at the Grand, New York, was being played Sunday. Baggage delay caused the Four Danubes to cancel the first half of the Warwick, Brooklyn. Burke Bros, and Kendall substituted. Clinton and Rooney walked out at the Majestic, Newark, Monday, replaced by Harvey and Ashton. On the Hippodrome bill, San Fran- cisco, this week, Ardell and Tracey were out, with Santry and Norton sub- stituted. The Larneds also failed to show for the Hip and Merle Prince and Girls substituted. The Kahlcr Children did not ap- pear on the Pantages bill, San Fran- cisco, this week. A quick booking re- sulted in Fred Fulton, the pugilist, be- ing added. Maud Muller, appearing with a vaudeville road show playing the Camp Liberty theatres, had to leave the bill at Camp Gordon, Ga., Monday, to re- turn to New Haven, where her mother is dangerously ill. Dow and Dale went into the Loew Palace, Brooklyn, bill Tuesday, replac- ing Josephine Davis, who had to leave after the first performance that day owing to illness. Parsons and Irwin had to leave the show at Loew's Orpheum, New York, the last half last week owing to ill- ness. Dot Marsell filled in. Mile. .Paula, while at Newhurgh last week, fell and dislocated a knee and was forced to cancel Pittsburgh this week. "Camouflage" will take the place of the Bessie Clayton act on the Orpheum Circuit, opening May 5 at Kansas City. Conlin and Glass substituted for Kramer and Morton at the Royal this week. ^ George White (White and Haig) takes the place of Carl Randall, in "Oh, Lady, Lady." McCarty and Lovering replaced William Kbs and Co. at the Princess, Montreal, this week. Grace Fielding to succeed Helen Menken in "Parlor, Bedroom and Bath." MARRIAGES. Sina Gershen (Van Atta and Ger- shen), at the Casino, San Francisco, last week, and William Crackles (Cccile Trio), playing the Hippodrome in the same city, were married dur- ing the week. Lottie Fletcher to Rodney Hilde- brand, in San Ftancisco, March 21. Both members of Bishop Players, Oak- land, Cal. James W. Morse (Photo. Sec. Signal Corps) to Georgia M. Flick, Lancaster, Pa, at Madison Barracks parade ground, New York, by chaplain, April 2$. STUART WALKER ACTING. Cincinnati, May 1. Stuart Walker this week is making his first, last and only appearance as an actor in his stock company at the Lyric, playing the bishop in "Romance." Walker essayed the role at the solici- tation of friends. This is his home town. Margaret Mower as Cavallini, the opera singer, is excellent, excepting her Italian dialect. George Gaul is superfine as Van Tuyl, the banker. The piece has been given a beautiful set- ting. Kvcn at the top price of $1, Cincin- nati is not giving Walker the patronage li«• deserves. Next week he will present Str.p Thief." SAVAGE SIGNS KEANE. k'oberf Kmmett Kcanc, by Henry W. Savage, to support Mitzi, in a new and unnamed nniMcal play, by Kdgar Al- lan W'oolf and Jerome Kern.