THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX. PORTLAND, AUGUST 2, 1903.
MATINEE IDOLS ARE FAILURES AS HUSBANDS
Fan Season is Here
Keep Gool
Idyllic Lovemaking on the Stage No Evidence of Marital Happiness
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iOBEPT MLATTfTJ-iL. -AND WIF,
TiiELE HOME.
BEWARE of the matinee idol.
He is a most dangerous man to
fall in love with. The tall, hand
some, n&wlensly dressed hero of the
society drama may be able to make
the most impassioned love on the
boards. His may be the talent of grlv
In most impressive beauty to expres
f eion of undyinfr affection.
But it does not follow that he will
flc the same thins; In real life.
Indeed it not infrequently happens
that the swain of the stage, who is
willing to yield fortune, life, every
thing "save honor itseix, ramer wiu
prove disloyal to the queen of his
heart, is in real life rather given to
admiring as many members of the fair
sex as it is his good fortune to find
responsive.
The latest fair wife to find this out
Is Miss Mary Mannering. She of the
"Janice Meredith" curl has Just sued
her tall and handsome husband for di
vorce. James K. Hackett, naming &
well-known Broadway star.
Thus endeth one of the most praised
of stage romances.
Miss Mannering was the leading lady
for Hackett at a time the famous son
of the greatest of Falstaffs - was Just
making his way .to the front. She was
goodly to look upon and had ample
talent. So had he.
Ten thousand fair young girls, the
worshipful students of the masculine
; Ideal of the boards, sighed when the an
nouncement came that Miss Mannering
was to become Mrs. Hackett.
The marriage was pre-eminently ft
romance, and when children came to
bless it everybody said that one stage
romance at least had not gone awry;
but now, after 11 years, the matinee
idol, the handsome stage lover, the
. perfect Romeo of etageland, has proved"
to be the most unsatisfactory hus
band of real life.
George M. Cohan was never a mati
nee idol in exactly the same sense that
Mr. Hackott is. but the original and
witty creator of the words and music
of a dozen successful plays Is far from
being a tyro in the art of making
tage love. He doesn't attempt the
herolo or the grandiloquent. His plea
is more likely to be staged in the flip
pancy of current, slang than in the
measured phrases of the poets.
But his work in this direction has
a piquancy to it that has caused more
than one heart to palpitate.
It evidently reached the affections of
Miss Ethel Levey, a pretty young com
edienne, at that time playing with th
creator of the most popular jingle
songs of today.
Miss Levey liked the style of the
rood-looking young George M. He
had all the. earmarks of a Jolly good
fellow and a praper husband. He
didn't come the heroics. He was Just a
sensible, bright fellow, whom every
body liked, and who wasn't such an
Adonis that a thousand foolish women
would be on his trail In every town
he visited.
But again the dope went bad.
Miss Levey remained in the role of
wife for three years. She was the
leading lady of' her star husband, and
for a time he gave her the best of
all his shows. She was allowed to
sing the best songs, the ones he had
written for himself..
But a time came when Miss Levey,
or Mrs. Cohan, to be more exact, found
that although her actor-slnger-dancer
.husband wasn't six feet tall, with
football shoulders, and that although
he didn't have curling hair and roman
tic eyes, nevertheless ho was not with
out popularity among the fair sex.
Then came another divorce, and once
more a stage hero fell down as hus
band. Nat Goodwin. In his younger days on
the stage, married a young actress of
modest abilities, but whose love for the
future great comedian was genuine and
sincere.
Nat made a good husband for a
time, but when he became the stage
lover of the wondrously beautiful Mar
ine Elliott , every other affection was
forgotten. . and he became the ardent
swain of one of the most superbly
charming beauties that ever appeared
on me American stage.
Perhaps in those scenes between the
two that used to so charm the public
"at must have forced .enough reality to
be convincing to MLss ElLiott. .Certain
it is that though rated ' as a comedian.
Nat knew how to throw into his love
making a most commendable simulation
of reality that never failed to delight his
audiences.
Miss Elliott also fell under its thrall,
and she allied her name and fortunes to
those of a a matinee idol.
Following the usual course In such
cases, Nat and Maxine went out on the
road 'together with a variety of shows,
and despite the old saying about hus
fcand and wife losing their drawing
power when working together in leading
roles on the stage, they drew tremen
dously, and it was a matter for genuine
surprise when announcement came that
in the future they would pursue their
stellar careers separate and apart.
Of course, their personal relations re
mained the same as ever. There had
been no altering of their affections. It
was merely a matter of business that
parted their professional Uvea They
could no longer get a play that would
give them the chances possible to sep
arate star productions. Hence their part
ing of the professional ways.
But since that time rumors have been
persistent that a divorce was a probabil
ity, and the recent exciting case when
Nat Goodwin was sued for the house
keeping bills of the lovely Edna Good
rich, whose name was mentioned In the
Thaw case, did not have the effect of al
laying public opinion that Nat and the
lovely Maxine were not long destined to
remain together.
Melbourne MacDowell had a wife be
fore the late Fanny Davenport fell hi love
with him, and the first Mrs. MacDowell
found that life with a matinee Idol was
not a bed of roses, for as soon as the
beauteous Fanny came to admire the
handsomely proportioned Melbourne, he
found a means of relegating his first
helpmeet to the limbo of things for
gotten. Miss Davenport said she had. no
cause to complain of her matinee Idol
husband, for during their life together
he proved a most exemplary swain, and
at her death he Inherited most of her
fortune.
Neither has Marie Booth Russell had
a chance to regret her chance of a
matinee Idol, the handsome Robert Man
tell. He also had an incubus in the shape of
a first wife, but freedom having been
obtained from her he has developed Into
a serious actor of considerable preten
sions, and is now one of the few per
formers who can make Shakespeare pay
on Broadway.
"While still a slip of a girl, Eugenie
Blair fell In love with the big and hand
some Robert Downing, who used to ex
ploit his classic proportlona in plays like
"The Gladiator," "Vlrginius," etc But
Miss Blair found so little contentment in
life with her matinee idol that she gladly
welcomed a chance to get freedom, and
has done her best stage work since.
No better example could be asked of
the stage lover who as husband turned
out to have feet of clay than "William
Faversham.
This young English actor, with the
graceful, drawing-room figure, the seri
ous, somewhat ascetic face, had the com
pletest understanding of how should be
spoken the word of endearment so be
loved by the heart of the matinee girl.
In many a boudoir his face was en
shrined as the perfection of manliness.
And for thosA who penetrated behind
the footlights, and Investigated the home
life of the actor, there was nothing in
evidence there to detract from the ideal
of bim formed on the stage.
In his home was to be found his charm
ing wife, Marion Faversham, ' his children
and a happy flavor of domesticity that
was marred by no suggestion of coming
trouble.
For 10 years- Faversham was as good a
husband off the stage as be strove to be
on. Then came the denouement.
Two divorce suits were started at the
same time. In one Marlon Faversham
asked for freedom from her-husband; In
the other the beautiful actress, Julie Opp,
asked to be freed from Robert Lorraine.
Both divorces were granted; then de
veloped the fact that there had been a
connection between the two, for rumor
announced the marriage of Faversham
and Miss Opp. At first both denied it, but
eventually the ceremony took place, and
another matinee idol had parted with
wife No. 1 in order to cast his fortunes
with wife No. 2.
Other caees might be multiplied, but
these will sera to illustrate the point
that because a man can make the most
impassioned love on the stage, be isn't
necessarily the Ideal husband.
NAT. C. GOODWIN
SZO&MY vEZLZCPTT.
LONDON, August 1. (Special.) On
Thursday, Mr. Hazleton, M. P., intro
duced a gentleman dressed in Gaelic
costume, into the place set apart for
visitors on the . floor of the House of
Lords. When Mr. Hazleton and his
friend entered, an attendant came after
them and taking Mr. Hazleton aside in
formed him that Black Rod who issues
admissions to the Lords galleries
sent word that he did not think that
the costume worn by Mr. Hazleton's
friend was a becoming one in which to
seek admission to the House of Lords.
Black Rod is a retired admiral. Sir H.
F. Stephenson, and In the matter of
costume the gentleman dressed in Gae
lic kilts was far more rationally at
tired than Is Black Rod himself when,
in full war-paint, bedizened with gold
lace and wearing a useless sword, he
fulfills his chief function of summoning
the Commons to attend the Bar of the
House of Lords.
Mr. Hazleton has now written to that
official asking him whether he author
ized the message conveyed by the at-
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tendant. If the gallant, but officious,
admiral admits responsibility, further
steps will be taken to test his right to
set up a sumptuary test for admission
to the visitors' seats in the House of
Lords. Soldiers dressed in Highland
costume have frequently been admitted
and the gallant admiral's reasons for
barring the Gaelic dress should prove
interesting.
The British naval authorities hav irlrdld
the IbIb of Wight with & telephonic srvlre,
the Needlee. the wlreleH telegraphy station
at Culver Cliff and other polnt having been
put In direct communication with the sig
nal station at rorunn tnj...
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