Variety (May 1928)

44, VARIETY W O M E N' S PAGE Wednesday, May 30, 1928 Ritzy , . The Menj.ous Now.'that the Menjous and Hills are mui-riod, Now York society and the Hollywood studios can only wonder, :''What next?" . Adolphe Mcnjou,. whose father was a res- taurateur,, has become internation- ally popular as a screen star. At (he height of . his success he wis divorced by Kathferlne Tinsley. Thfen he became enamored of Kath- ryn: Hill, who changed her name to Carver, and beciime a movie actress 111 his support. . Sh.e-had divorced Ira Hill, the new York photograplrer. Hill, 30 years her senlori. first em- ployed her as a model, after she had posed for Howard Chandler Christy, Penrhyn Stanlaws aiid other artists, J^fow Adolphe Menjdu has mar- ried, iWEiss Carver, -and Ira Hill; has married Doris GodwiOi Doris is a daughter of Mr. aiid, Mrs. Cortlandt GodAvin,; and socially registered. Her greiat-uricle was President Zachary Taylor. ■ Only recently Charles H. Sabin iwas dancing with the widow of Maurice and they were reported' abdut to marry. Now Sabin has teamed with Barbara Bennett and has been appearing: at the ClubXiido. The dfebut of the. new pair was a.t a private party given by Mr. and Mrs. William - Randolph Hearst. Charles is not the Charles H. Sabin, JFh son of the president of the Guaranty Trust Co. .. Fame and After Mrs." Vivian Bath has been in New ,Tork, but when lunching at the Algonquin, passes unrecognized. A few years ago people would have stopped and stared. For ; she was . a favorite in "The. Follies" as Mary Jiay. Then she married and di- '"^Vorced Richard Barthclmess, and married an Englishman with whom she journeyed to the Orient. With her are her two children, respec- tively Barthelmess and Bath. M(>a'nwhile, Richard has been - honeymooning in Honolulu with his bride, Jessica- Haynes, who divorced . Stewart Sargeant, New York stock- .Ijroker. Last sumntier. It was ari- liounced Barthelmess would" marry Katherine Young Wilson, who has acted on the stage and in pictures. Xiast fall this engagement was de- claried "of£." ^ ; :M L«ader When the late Frederick Cauchois, "coffee king," died, his millions were divided amoung. four daughters. One of these, Leonie, got into the Sbciial Register a.3 the wife of Frank McCoy, 3d. Foilowing her divorce from McCoy, she married Herbert Prior Vallee, leadier of the jazz or- chestra at the Heigh-Ho Club in . East 53d street. The" bride has a small daughter, Gloria McCoy. The bridegroom hails from Vermont and graduated iioni Yale in 1924. Oiie of Mrs. Va.llee's sisters is. the ^Ife of Richard Malthaner, another ha.s separated from Max Munson, and still another Is living apart from S. Wyman Steele. Claire Luce's Marriage Again tVe Social Register pops up In connection with Broadway alli- ances! Clllford Warren Smith is In that exclusive publication,, as is also his mother, now Mrs. Newcomb Ciarltofi. Sffiithr^yvlro "maintains a luxurious apartment at. The Duahc; ■ on Madison avenue, Was divorced by Ardath Crane. Now he is to marry Claire Luce, who until a few months ago also lived at The Duane. After having been in "The Fol- lies"' and other Broadway shows, Clstire, the adopted daughter of Mir. and Mrs.. W. Powers, of Rochester, went' abroad last winter, her blonde: ; loveliness attracting attention even In blase Parial.. She is an exper- * .ienced avlatrix. Mr; Snrilth has been attentive for some time past. Miss Marbury as Producer ,. • The quaint old Washington Irving ^House at Irving Place .and 17th street has now become a city mem- orial to the famous author, whose "Rip Van Winkle" is known to in- numerable readers. During many years this residence was occupied J) y-;EHsabeth_ Mar biyy and Elsie dc Wolfe, ' who later estabilslied~"itHc" phenomenally successful Sutton place colony, overlooking £h« Bast River, their friends and neighbors Including Mrs. W. K. Vanderbllt and Miss Anne Morgan. When these ladies lived in Irving Place their salon was frequented by theatrical notables. Miss Marbury, play-broker, is now Ireturning to her venture of some years ago. when she produced musi- cal comedi<,»3 oC the intimate type Miss de Wolfe was on the stage for many years, but later gained renown as an interior decorator. When well over 60, she married Sir Charles Mendl, of the British dip- lomatic service. $745,000 Settlement The lawsuit brought in the Su- preme Court by (wo attorneys, claiming $35,660.from the estate of the late Daniel G, Reid;for profes- sional and personal services in- cluded the' assertion that the finan- cier in question was in his latter years a victim of drugs.. . ' Reid, who died- in 1925, leaving many millions, with the late William B. Leeds; "Tin Plate King," founded the American' Can GO. A daughter by the first wife is Mrs. Henry J. Topping, who lives lux- uriously on Fifth avenue. The sec- ond wife -was Clarisse Agnew. a' chorus girl, and the third wife, who divorced him, was • Mabel Carrere, also a chorus girl. The third wife received a settlement of $7.45,000. Lionel Atwill $ocial Although Lionel Atwill filed suit for divorce from Elsie Mackay in Decen^ber, 19125, the case did not come up until May, 1928. ' Miss Mackay, whose father was . a wealthy rancher in Australia, was leading , woman in productions in which Atwill starred under the Be- lasco managenient. She. deserted him and eloped with Max Montesole, an actor, who at the same time de- serted a -wife and children in New York. Montesole had had two pre- vious wives. Atwill . married MisS Mackay in 1920, after being.divorced by Phyllis Relph, English actress, mother of his son. Lionel first acted in England in li9P5, 10 years later coming' to America with Mrs. Langtry's com- pany. Miss Mackay, after acting in London, came to. America in 1914 with Cyril Maude^s company. . ..Of late Atwill has been going about quite a bit in New York so- ciety, often seen with^ Mrs. Douglas Mac Arthur, daughter of the enor- mously rich Mrs. Edward T. Stotes- bury, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Mac- Arthur, whose fatherjwas the late Oliver Cromwell, of New York, is the sister of James H. R. Cromwell, who married Delphine Dodge, daughter of the multlmillionairess how married to Hughjpillman, for- mer actor, divorced by MarJorie Rambeau. ' Florence Walton's Shop New York dallies recently pub- lished . that Florence Walton, long an international favorite as a dancer, had opened a millinery es- tablishment in Paris. The Ritzy column of Feb. 29 contained the first word of. this matter. Today l^Iss Walton could easily pass for 30, and yet as far back as 1908; 20 years ago, when she wa.s by no means a child, she was well known in the chorus. In that year she appeared in two of Ziegfeld's productions on Broad- way, "The Soul Kiss," In which Adelaide Genee was starred, and "The Follies." In the first named a fellow-chorister was William Rear- don, and in the latter a solo dancer was Mile. Dazie, who had also been known as La Domino Rouge, has for WaTty^-TeTcrs'^been-^Mrs—Cornelius Fellowes. Lillian Gish as a Super Charlotte Walker aind Lou Telle- gen, after having toured the south in "The Green Hat," more recently headed the second company in "The Consta-nt Wife," A generation ago Miss Walker was a popular leading lady on Broadway and appeared in several of the Belasco productions. One of her successes under the Be- lasco management was "The War- rens of Virginia," in which a, child-, actress, Mary Pickford, also made a hit. Years later Belasco featured Mary Pickford in "A Good Little Devil" J^nd employed Lillian GIsh as a super! Tcllogen, after having been a model for the Frehch sculptor Rodin, also became a sculptor. As leading nia^n for Sarah Bernhardt, he ac- compiahied."lhV~fai^ to America. Later he starred in his own drtimiati^iatipn of Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of ■ Dorian Gray." That was In Londo.n, and the audiences were said to be as well worth studying as the play. Then Tcllegen was married to and divorced hy GeraldIne Farrar, at that time immensely popular as an opera star. . Hailing from M^^lroftcs Mas.s., Miss; Calif. Club Women's Interest in Pictures Los Angeles, 'May 29^. Around i.OOft cluh women ropre- sentihg 108 organizations in the Los Angeles district of tlie General Fed- oi*atlon of Women's Clubs will hold their annual convention June 2. at the Ambassador hotel. Th6Se women represent more' than '75,000 club- women in Southern California. Tl^e conferenciB is for; the^-purpose of looking to the development and recognition of . the. art of niotion pictures. ^ Those in charge of the meeting, according to Pyliis Hem- mington. Director of Public Rela- tions for "West Coast Theatres cir- cuit, say it is to aicquaint club- wpmen of America with what the clubwomen of California .are doing for; motion pictures. They want the clubwomen of the country to .know, exactly the sort of praotipal coopei*- atlon .which the organized groups arouhd the- picture capital have de- veloped in the past few years. Fanchon and Marco will stage a tableaux in which stars apd featured players, from, the film companies will participate. Gray Maitter By MOLLIE GRAY Tommy Gray's Sister News From the Dailies This department contains rewritten theatrical news items as pub* lished during the week in the daily papers of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Ahgeles; and London. Variety takes no credit for these hews items; each has been irewritt^n from a daily paper. NEW YORK Heiurian Leon Sarshl,; former husband of Mabel Withee, got into his last scrape for the present when he was sentenced to from six- months to three years by general sessions oh a charge .of selling a forged option for $5,006. He asked to be sent to 'the workhouse aftet pleading guilty. Ernest Oliver Lambert , of "Rain or Shine" was up. on alimony chariges. He told the court he had been broke before he got his pres- ent job and is living on $35 a week while he pa;ys oft old debts at the rate of $165 a week. He draws $200. He declared his former wife Is roll- ing around In a; lihiousine while he is hard up. Receiver appointed to go into wife's claim of $6,960 ac- cumulated at $40 a week. ■ Mrs. Edna Breslaw, slain in Milan, Italy, by her husband, was identified in NCw York as Edna Eiirhans, who used to smg in mov- ing picture hpusies. Roky Emotional "The Roxy stage show opens on an emotional note "In. a monastery garden," with, the singers beiiind a scrimi in an appropriate setting. En- semble formed graceful poses before it, after trailing white rObes down those winding Stairways at tithor side of the stage. Uncle Sani and one of his daughters posed hear by with a large wreath. . The Roxeyettes, in white satin clown costumes and red' gloves, Ironed out a few hew wrinkles. It Is probably as movie propaganda that "Variete" was presented.. Vaudeville isn't quite as dull as that. A dahcer wore white tulle in tiera and the girls appeared In black, trimmed with ostrich plumes that were yel- low one time and orange the next, A sparkling star standing out on one side of silver caps cheered up the costumes. ' . News Secrets Safe . "The News Parade" is a soft as- signment for Sally Phlpps. People Who get all their news in concen- trated form at the movies are na- turally interested in the inside stuff but newsreel secrets are safe still i this was all in. fun. It starts oft well, anyway, and some pictures don't even do that. Sally wore a dark silk frock at home, a nifty knitted outfit at Lake Placid, a lovely silk beach ensemble at Palm Beach, though it never got wet, and a knitted and silk frock to Savannah, where she was res- cued in a flowered crepe, very short. Farrar, liow white-haired, has sought to stage several comebacks. But, despite, enthusiastic applause from a devoted soterle,. her career seerried ended with her withdrawal from -the Metropolitan.^--Y she starred in several pictures and made a great hit as Cixrmen, re- cently rofilmed with Dolores Del Rio as the .star. De Blaas' Portraits . Thje recent exhibition Of portiaits painted by i.Guilio de Blaas, an Italian who has spent much time in New York during the last, few years, attracted attention. Studies from "Porgy" were included. Pa- tronesses of the display Included the following, .who have sat for dt Blaas: Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbllt Whitney, Mrs. Earl B. T. Smith (Consuelo. Vanderbllt), Mnie. Lu- cretia Borl, opera, singer, and Mme. Ernest de Weerth, whose son Ernest has for several years been assistant, here ajid 'abroad, to Max Relnhardt. Do Weerth, independently wealthy, ■f5mei'ly^--5hared='=^a^studio---wUh= R.omcyn Benjamin, brother of Mrs. Dorothy Caruso, Romeyn has be- come an actor. De Blaas, when he first arrived in New York, included in his initial exhibition a portrait of Marie Dressier.' "the painter had mot the actress in Italy, where she has spent considerable time. Marie tells a diverting tale on herself, snying Jn Rome she was pointed out to the tourists as "one of the ruins!" Jeff Blunt, colored proprietor of the Lenox Club in the black belt, was lured from his place in a taxi- cab by a white wonjan. When the car reached a remote point near the river on Washington Heights he was- shot four times by a man who ap- proached the cab from an apart- ment house entrance, summoaed by the mysterious white woman. • Arthur Hammersteiri deferred the showing of the picture, "The Eiid of St. Petersburg," Soviet production, when the New York censors for- bade its exhibition until it had been approved by: the State Department. Hammerstein filed a . protest with the State Departinent and *t first proposed to open ithe Hammerstein with it in spite of the censor ban. Later he postponed the show» Theatre Guild announced closing of its subscription lists June 1, first time organization has closed its books before start of the season/ Lists are full and a waiting list will be formed for the foUowing season. Guild is said to Have 23,000 sub- ^scribers. Metropolitan Opera Co. directors refused to Comment upon the re- port that a new site for the; opera house had been selected at Madison avenue and 49th street, occupied until 1897 by Columbia University which still owns the ground.. • Zlcgfeld signed contracts calling for production of a musical. version of "East Is West," Sami Shipman's and John B. Hymer's comedy. Sail Katz adopted a six-year-old boy, the ward of the Free Syna- gogue, child adoption committee, headed by Dr. Stephen S. Wise. Katz, widower, had ho children- of his own.: ' Decree awarded to Lionel Atwill from Elsie Gertrude Mackay who did not defend. Actor named Max Montesole, his protege, as core- spondent. He said he believed Montesole and his wife were now in Europe. Keith's announces Jeanne Eagels will open In Chicago June 10 for a tout-; following with Cleveland and Milwaukee. Newspapers added comment that Equity has no juris- diction over ■vaudeville. — Leslie Howard, stricken while on the Cunard Line pier in New York, about, to board ship for London, was, taken to the Park West hospi- tal for an Operation for appendi- citis. Reported doing well, . W. C. Fields is defending the suit for $150,000 brought by Charles Waldron, agent, under, an alleged contract calling for 10 per cent, commissions for five years, Nathan Eurkan, f6r Fields, sets up that the New York law. limits agent's commission to 5 per cent, of first five weeks' employment Eva Mudge Jorgenson, former ac- tress, after a settlehient in the case was reported to have been made A former suit, in which "Death Valley. Scotty," notorious desert milllonairei was named, was dis- missed two weeks ago as it was about to go to trial. Present action charges desertion. No: defense is expected to-be: made. ~ The $50,000 estate left by the late Lydia Dickson, stake and screen actress, is ihvolvhiir a great deal of controversy. Two contests over the will have already been filed by rela- tives who contend the deceased was unduly infiuehced when . she drew her will leaving $600 and a resid- uary bequest to Lsobel Priest, a friend. Evelyn Mueller, singer . and. dancer, came here all the way from Lewlfltoh, Idaho, she claims, at the request of Jack Tyre, wealthy local business man. Who promised to marry her. Tyre, the girl says, did • not keep his wdrd, so she has filed a $100,000 breach of promise suit against him. Tyre, through his at- torney, David A. Hill, claihls that he fo\md Miss Mueller was too 'mercenary ; and Just used him''for a good time Charlie. He admits sending for the girl and her parents, but says he decided not to go any further after she' arrived here. The matter will be argUed in court. Charging that Mae Murray 'gave out' statements reflecting on his ability as a motion picture director,. Arthur Gregor has filed suit against the actress in superior coUrt, Los Angeles, asking $110,00tf damages. The complaint, ; filed by Gregoria attorney, DaVid A. Hill, stipulates $100,000 for the; alleged slander, $5,000. for his services to Miss Mur- ray and the remaining $5,000 for loss of time occasioned by Miss M:ur- ray's alleged fallure^ to keep him employed. While Gregor's complaint specifl- cally includes the slander action, it is understood that this , may be dropped and an amended complaint substituted asking judgmert . for only $10,000; for his services and loss of time. LOS ANGELES Faith Garde, picture extra. . glri; is in the General Hospital In a dying condition as the result of attending a party at the home of John a. Darragh, wealthy oil oper- ator; The girr plunged"rrom"a=§tair railing and fractured her skull dur- ing the course of the, party at which, it Is said, a lot of drinking was go- ing on. While no arrests were made, Dar- ragh was instructed to report to the sheriff's office for further ques- tioning, while police are Investi- gating the affair more fully. Hans William Jorgenson insti- tuted a new suit for divorce, from ■ Pola Negri is suing for $135,000 damages against the California Counties Developnient Corporation for allctred breach of contract. The action is an aftermath of Misa Negri's plan to engage in the .apart- ment-house. . business in Beverly Hills. The complaint charges that the realty concern was to have constructed an apartment house for the actress, but that they broke the contract and abandoned the project. The matter will be hea^ in su- perldt court. , Irving Thalberg, producing chief for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, back from Europe, says he has Jacques Feyder, French director, and Erich Schoenfelder, German director, and Mitzi Mar^ena, a Viennese actress of the Garbo type, under contract. All of the trio are expected in Cul- ver City by Oct. 1. With the arrival of the Thalberg? plans are being made for the mar- riage of his sister, Sylvia, scenarist, to Larry Weingarten, M-G-M production sVipervlsor, June 2. Alice Hill, fllni extra girl, tried to commit suicide in a Hollywood apartment-by_ drinking polsojU She Was rushed to the Hollywood. Hos- pital' by Frank R6we, said :to be her boy frlendt After administering first-aid, the girl was allowed to go honrie. According to police the girl swallowed poison because a.hOther girl called P.owe on the phone. : SUby M. Karns, who claims to be a' picture director, was arrested on a warrant from Colorado chai*glng hl.ih with non-payment of alimony. He is to be extradited to Colorado for trial. ;-Bobby West, 36, formerly in Uni- versal studio slating department, at- tempted suicide by taking poison and is in a locsil hospital. Condition reported not serious. After taking the dose "West talked on a phone to a. girl until his father saw him col-, lapse. Mrs. Mollie Zuckerman, formerly known on the screen as Mollle Mac- Gowanr"filed--suIt--for-dlvorGe^froj5a, Maurice Zuckerman, produce ui^r- chant, known .as the "potato king.' Mrs, Zuckerman's complaint sets forth thiat her three and a half years of married life culminated in a beat- ing from her husband. She pictured hini as a grouchy, irritable person who drank to excess. She asks for $300 a week alimony £ind $10,000 at- torney's fees. Zuckerman filed a counter affidavit denying most of the charges.