bUMUAtr. iiAr 2. I nii
MEDFORD MAIL. TRIBUNE. MEDFOREL OREGON
n-Showman Living in Drew Area
By VIOLA ROGERS
Mail Tribunt Correspondent
Drew Avery Grccnman'i
richly varied life has led him
from farm boy to Metropoli
tan Opera to custodian of the
local school.
One may wonder why any
one would leave a highly suc
cessful stage career, the
bright lights of New York,
Boston, Toronto, Chicago, and
other large cities, and the
highly remunerative salary of
the stage for a secluded home
in the mountains.
But the Greenmans fell in
love, first with Oregon and
then with a particular piece
of Oregon. For 10 years they
had been looking for a place
to call home when they
reached retirement age. And
having traveled from one end
of the United States to the
other, they knew all of the
states.
In the summer of 1954, they
came to Grants Pass, got sev
eral listings from a real
estate agent, and started out
to find the place they would
finally call home.
Looked At Several Places
After looking at several
places in the area and being
disappointed in them,, they
got lost. As the day waned
they became more tired and
cross. Finally they were on
Highway 42 between Canyon
ville and Trail. They were
going to look at a place just
over the divide.
But just beyond Drew they
spied a small, primitive "For
Sale" sign. The place was off
the highway, the house was
little more than a shed, and
no one was home.
They found the owner at a
neighbors, talked with her a
few minutes, and drove' on to
Shady Cove where they
stayed over night. At five
o'clock next morning they
got Mrs. Silva out of bed
and bought their future home.
Yield lo Oregon
They had planned to re
main in show business several
years, devoting their summers
to fixing up their home at
Drew, But the place grew on
them until finally after three
Vt' j - " ,
Oeti Cm) l ,5rT
a ) f
CHOOSE MOUNTAIN HOME Avery Grccnman (Jack Mann
on the stage) and his wife have a mountain home in Drew,
for which he gave up a successful stage career. Grccnman
appeared in such Broadway productions as "High Kickers"
with George Jesse 1, "One Touch of Venus" and Mike Todd's
"Peep Show."
summers they yielded to Ore
gon's beauty. Greenman left
the stage, and Drew became
their permanent home.
But he wasn t ready to re
tire. There were still too
many things that needed
doing, and as with most
people, everything had its
price. Sn for a while Green-
man worked at a plywood
mill near Tiller. Two years
ago . he got the job as custo
dian of the Tiller Elementary
school.
Greenman did not have a
theatrical background; he was
the only actor in his family.
When he was young, he had
a friend who made jokes at
parties, on streetcars, or
wherever they might be.
Avery acted as his straight
man.
Read Ad in Paper
Then iie day in 1920
Greenman saw an ad in the
Cleveland paper which read
"wanted two comedians."
This was a rare ad and the
only one like it Greenman
had ever seen. The boys an
swered the ad, got the job,
and went to work for a man
who knew no more about
show business than either of
them.
They opened in Lodi, Ohio.
Shortly before opening time,
Avery went to a store next
door to the theater to buy a
collar button. When the clerk
asked if he wasn't new in
town. Greenman feel import
ant, replied, "Yes, I'm with
the show," only to learn that
the clerk didn't even know
that there was a show in
town. So on opening night,
they played to a few relatives
of the cast.
Greenman was like a first
time loser in Las Vegas. He
was money nut of pocket but
he had acquired a taste for
show business. So he rented
a hall in Cleveland, got the
cast together including a four
piece orchestra, and sold
tickets to a show and dance.
The venture was a success.
And Avery became a produ
cer even though he didn't
know what a prop was.
Gets Booking Agent
He talked a friend, who
was a cement finisher, into
being booking agent for the
company. At Ashtabula, Ohio,
where the theater manager
had to have a stage built be
fore they could perform, they
played to a full house. At that
time Greenman wasn't paying
the cast wages. He just doled
out enough for each one's
board and room and stuffed
the rest of the bills in his
pocket.
Until they played Mead
villc, Pa the theater man
ager there had never heard of
having the orchestra on stage.
And Avery, says he wouldn't
be surprised that it was a
E 1st
PEWHM
of
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Television and Game room.
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i first. Up until then the place
for the orchestra was in the
,pit. It wJti also at Meadville
I that he changed the subject
when asked what reaps he
needed because he didn't
, know a prop from a theater
ticket.
The honking agent was
doing a noble joB and
Greenmans pockets were
bulging with greenbacks. But
he was young and all that
money frightened him. He
thought he had better get the
cast back home to Cleveland
while his luck still held.
Chance at Circuit
Later, while working in
Cleveland, Greenman got a
chance to go to work on the
Gus Sun circuit in tableau
shows, the forerunner of the
vaudeville circuits. Then he
met Bert Lewis, a black-face
comedian who had retired
from show business to open a
theatrical agency, and signed
on with him.
Lewis had so few clients
that whenever he got a call
for an actor, he sent Green
man. It was under Lewis'
tutelage that he gained his
greatest knowledge of the act
ing profession. He spent four
: years in Akron, Ohio, with
Lewis.
It was in the summer of
1A35 when Greenman was
playing in a musical show at
the Hollywood Playhouse that
he met Sydna Black, his fu
ture wife.
Later when he went cast,
Sydna went with him as his
wife. They hadn't been back
East long when Sydna de
cided her husband should
have a show of his own. So
she sent a scout to Denver to
see if he could get them a
theater.
The first Greenman heard
of this was when he picked
up a telegram In their hotel
lobby that read, "Have thea
ter, when will you arrive?"
He went blasting up to their
room to see what his wife had
been up to.
The outcome was that he
put a show together, went to
Denver where they were well
received and then on to
Seattle. Wash., where they j
played for a year and a half.
Later he was hnnkpri in
I such cities as Vancouver, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Chi
cago, New York, other eastern
cities.
A couple years had passed
: in New York when Nick
Holde learned George Jcssel
was looking for a comedian
for his show "High Kickers."
Holde told Jcssel, "The man
you are looking for is in (
Newark, New Jersey." j
Grccnman got the part as
feature comedian writing his i
own material. The only thing ;
Jessel didn't like about Avery
was his name which he
changed to Jack Mann, which
was Grcenman's stage name
from then on.
It was while working in ,
High Kickers Jack auditioned
for Paramount Studios, but he 1
later gave that up to stay with
Jcssel.
Jack went on to do "One :
Touch of Venus," Mike Todd's
"Peep Show," and to be on
the Ed Sullivan TV show.
.In Metropolitan Opera
I While doing Peep Show, !
Jack was asked if he'd like a ;
part in a Metropolitan Opera,'
and they were prevailed upon
to sec it and if he liked the
part it was open for him. They
sat through the first two acts
thinking they were way out
of Jack's range. And then the
third act and the drunken
sailor. "That's for me." Jack
almost shouted. He played the
part for six years, giving it
up for a bit of Oregon.
Mrs. Greenman, who gave j
up a stage career to marry
Avery, comes from a family
of show people. Her mother's
sister, stage name Stella Gil
more, was on stage in New
York. And her father, Sid
Black, was billed as
"Champion Bicycle Rider of
the World. "
It was W. C. Fields, a friend
of. Sid Black, who got Sydna
Black into show business. In
193.'f Sydna played with
Fanny Brice in a Billy Rose
show. She also appeared in
"Showboat." and was under
contract with Paramount
Studios when Jack met her.
Although the Greenmans
home in Drew is thousands of
miles from the New York
stase they are not entirely
away from show business.
Two years ago he went to Las
Vegas for iwo months at the
Dunes hotel. They do scenes
for community affairs at
Tiller, they appeared in Kom
nuinity Kapers at Myrtle
Creek, and occasionally do a
bit at night spots.
Shrubs Reported
Taken from Hospital
Ktiilit Juniper shrubs have
bron stolen from Hntiue Val
ley hnspiial property. Med
ford city police reported.
Tin shrubs, valued about
MS. were planted in ft line
a Ions Murphy rd.
They were taken .sometime
between 3 .W p m Wednes
day and 7 ;w a m Friday,
pohrr said.
O
(5
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