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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
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* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
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* Issue 48 -- December 1996 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
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* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
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Kathlyn Williams
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What is TAYLOROLOGY?
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TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond
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Taylor, a top Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to
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death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major
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scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life;
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(b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor
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murder on Hollywood and the nation; (d) Taylor's associates and the Hollywood
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silent film industry in which Taylor worked. Primary emphasis will be given
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toward reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it
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for accuracy.
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Kathlyn Williams
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Kathlyn Williams was one of the first prominent motion picture actresses, and
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she continued to act in supporting roles throughout the silent film era.
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She starred in the first American serial, "The Adventures of Kathlyn," and
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was in the original classic silent film "The Spoilers." William Desmond
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Taylor directed her in three films, and she was married to Charles Eyton,
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who was the studio manager for Famous Players-Lasky where Taylor worked.
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Kathlyn Williams' signature appears on Taylor's death certificate; she is the
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one who officially identified Taylor's body after his murder. The following
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are some interviews and articles tracing the silent film career of
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Kathlyn Williams.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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April 20, 1912
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NEW YORK CLIPPER
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Kathlyn Williams, whose picture appears on the front page of this issue,
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is one of the bright lights among the most noted motion picture players, and
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now appearing with the Selig Stock Co., when interviewed by our
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representative gave the following interesting narrative regarding her early
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ambitions as an actress, and later as a motion picture artist.
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"My desire to go on the stage became my life's ambition when I was about
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eight years old, after seeing my first play. My mother and friends laughed
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at the idea as a childish whim, but as time went on and I became an amateur
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of some note in my home town, Butte, Mont., my mother became worried and sent
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me to Wesleyan University, thinking a rigid religious school would change my
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views. The love of the stage was too firmly rooted, however, to make me
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alter my determination.
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"During a vacation I had an opportunity of appearing for a short while
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in a stock company in Butte. My acting appeared to please my townspeople so
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well that the newspapers spoke highly of my feeble efforts. Through this I
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was brought to the notice of Senator Clark, who has helped so many boys and
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girls to realize their ambitions. My desire was to study for the stage in
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New York or Europe. The senator consented to help me on condition that I
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finish my last year at Wesleyan, and during that year I won a medal for
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elocution.
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"The next Fall found me enrolled in Sergeant's School for Acting, when I
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found out what the stage really meant, hard work, heartaches and
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disappointments. I worked hard, as I wanted to justify the senator's faith
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in me. After finishing there I went out as leading lady in 'When We Were
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Twenty-One.' Then began the real hard work and real disappointments. The
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horrors of one night stands and catching early trains was enough to take the
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energy out of a less ambitious person. But nothing daunted, I went out
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season after season with the same jumps and same one night stands. Then I
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tried stock. There another horror confronted me: wardrobe and studying.
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I felt I was not doing myself justice. It was all work and no play, and I
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was almost in despair. Why I never had enough fresh air and seldom saw the
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sun, when, lo and behold! a new field was opened: 'Moving Pictures.'"
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With this came a twinkle in the soft blue eye that spoke her happy frame
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of mind and made her interviewer eager to learn the real cause of her perfect
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contentment. Glancing about her cordial surroundings, she gave vent to a
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bewitching smile and said:
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"Here was a new field where conditions were almost perfect, with nothing
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but fresh air, sunshine and real country with real trees and grass, things I
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had only seen through dust-dimmed car windows. It is early to bed and early
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to rise, and we certainly are healthier, wealthier and wiser. The work is
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absolutely fascinating--there is a change all the time; each picture is a new
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character and each character one creates one's self. No following in the
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footsteps of the actor or actress who created the part. If you have the
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right conception of the part, your producer is only too glad to give your
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imagination full sway, but woe unto him who thinks he knows it all.
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"One's first picture will take more egotism out of one than all the
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critics. One sees himself as other see him, and is quite willing to
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acknowledge that the producer knows what he is talking about and what he
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wants. Don't imagine that you can slight your work, nor that you do not need
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to take the situation seriously--the camera does not lie, and the result is
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sometimes startling. The opportunity to improve one's self is limitless.
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What more can you want than to see yourself act? Then the different
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characters one portrays. There are characters I have always wanted to try.
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I could be in stock for years and never have the opportunity to play more
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than one line. In motion pictures one tries them all.
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"Oh, how I have enjoyed some of my roles. Nora, in 'The Witch of the
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Everglades,' and 'Lost in the Jungle,' are two roles I have enjoyed most.
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The characters are as different as they could possibly be.
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"'Lost in the Jungle' was particularly interesting to me as we used an
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elephant and many beautiful leopards. That you may have an idea of the story
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of this particular picture and more readily realize the wonderful experience
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we had in making it, I would say I played the part of a girl living fifty
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miles in the interior of Africa with her father. She refuses to marry the
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man her father has chosen so he turns her from the house. She tries to go
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through the jungle to the next neighbor, twenty miles away, but gets lost.
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Faint and exhausted, she lies down to rest and while resting is attacked by a
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leopard but mortally wounds it with a knife which she carries, and escapes,
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although badly hurt. In the meantime a work elephant on her father's place
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escapes from his keeper who has been cruel to him, and goes to the jungle.
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The girl, seeing him come toward her, speaks to him. Recognizing the voice
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of his only friend, he comes to her. She commands him to kneel, staggers to
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her feet, and half-fainting, falls across his trunk, and with his trunk he
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assists her up to his head and starts home with her.
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"Toddles, the elephant used, has the reputation of having killed two of
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his keepers, so our producer was afraid to have me try and wanted me to use a
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dummy figure. Realizing how much more real it would be to have it true to
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life, I was anxious to try, and always having been fond of animals,
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especially wild ones, I set to work to win Toddles as my friend. Knowing the
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surest way was through his stomach I began visiting him daily with fruit. In
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fact every time I passed I would have something until at last he began to
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know me, and whenever he would see me he would trumpet and call, and I was
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always prepared. After some weeks of this we began our real work. I would
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lie down within easy reach of him, command him to kneel and then to assist me
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to my feet with his trunk. Whenever he did what I wanted I gave him an
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orange. How quickly he understood. At last he would allow me to get on his
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head. Oh! He was splendid, and I felt as safe up there as on the ground.
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It took a month to accomplish this, but it was fascinating work.
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"Then came Tom, the leopard, and my real work. He has been trained to
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jump over me. He apparently jumps at me, but really jumps over me. He did
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it beautifully the first time, and I had more confidence than before. The
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second time I was late in my action of falling. I just had time to cover my
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face when I felt his sharp claws sink in my head, but I kept perfectly still
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--not an easy thing to do under the circumstances--but that probably saved me
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from more serious injury. The trainer was there, and after one crack of the
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whip he was off me. I was not badly hurt--only a few scratches and a little
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nervous, and it was a new experience.
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"When the public sees that picture there is not one in a hundred will
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believe that it was a real leopard that jumped over me, but will think it a
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big dog, painted up. They figure it out to suit themselves and little
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realize the chance we take. Every picture with character in it is taken from
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actual life and at a great expense, as everything is made as real as
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possible."
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At this moment the producer announced that the scene was ready, and our
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interview was at an end, as the little blonde lady passed hurriedly out to
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the studio, and bidding the writer a good afternoon, apologized for taking up
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too much of his time with remark: "the gong saved you: I never know when to
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stop talking when telling of the happiness and pleasure I derive from being a
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picture player."
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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October 12, 1912
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MOTOGRAPHY
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About that Hydroaeroplane Mishap
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For the past two weeks, the Chicago branch of the Selig Motion Picture
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Company has been busily engaged in the production of an aviation picture that
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promises to be thrilling. Miss Kathlyn Williams, the always popular leading
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woman of the Selig Company and Max Lillie and Beckwith Havens, well known
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aviators, are the principal players in the unique subject. During the recent
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Chicago air meet at Cicero park, Miss Williams made several flights in the
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biplane of Lillie, as his passenger. These scenes were all recorded by the
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Selig cameras as part of the picture. After the Cicero meet, the aviators
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moved their machines down to Grant park on the lake front of Chicago, for the
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hydroaeroplane meet. Beckwith Havens was engaged by the Selig Company to
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complete the scenes required for the picture. Henry McRae, one of the Selig
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producers, and Stanly Twist, of the business department, were supervising the
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production. Everything went well until the last day of the meet. Miss
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Williams made several successful flights with Havens in his hydroaeroplane in
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front of the cameras without mishap. On Sunday, the last day of the meet,
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the producers prepared to secure the climax scene, in which Miss Williams,
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adrift in a disabled motorboat, far out at sea, is rescued from her perilous
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position by Havens in his hydroaeroplane. When all preparations had been
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completed and the event was about to be enacted, McRae and Twist were told by
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the Aero Club officials that they would have to wait until Havens had
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completed all of the events in which he was entered, before they could
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produce the required scene. Only one event remained to be completed and
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Havens was the only one entered in it. This was the grand prize trophy
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event. In order to win it, the aviator was required to circle the mile crib
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eight times, carrying with him a passenger. When Havens began to look around
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for the necessary passenger to accompany him, there was none to be found.
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Nobody seemed anxious to take a chance in such a race. As the afternoon
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light was fading rapidly and the picture had to be completed before dusk that
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day, Mr. Twist volunteered his services, in order to secure Havens for the
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remaining scenes in motion pictures. Dressing himself in aviator clothes,
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Twist climbed into the passenger's seat and they were off for the trophy
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race. Several rounds were made without mishap and many thousands of people
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were excitedly watching the maneuvers of the air craft, when suddenly those
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on shore saw the nose of Haven's pontoon strike the water and the machine
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turned a complete somersault on the lake surface. Twist was thrown through
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the air for about fifteen feet before he struck the water. Havens clung to
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the wrecked machine, but Twist started to swim the half mile between himself
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and shore, not taking into consideration the fact that his heavy booths and
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clothing would soon weigh him down. After proceeding about fifty yards he
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began to feel exhausted and would undoubtedly have met with a more serious
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fate, if Miss Williams, who had been waiting in the motor boat outside the
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crib breakwater, and who had been a witness to the accident, had not had the
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presence of mind to put on full speed and race to the rescue of the sinking
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man. When Twist was rescued by Miss Williams, he was on the point of
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exhaustion but outside of a severe chill and a few bruises, he suffered no
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ill effects. A funny coincidence connected with the affair is the fact that
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Twist, who is also press agent of the Selig Company, had planned a unique
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press story in connection with the event. When the originally planned press
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stunt was brought to a sudden end by the accident, the amount of space that
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the Selig company secured in the daily papers throughout the country, more
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than made up for the experience that the players underwent. Another
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hydroaeroplane was secured the next day and the picture was finished.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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November 9, 1912
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MOTOGRAPHY
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Miss Kathlyn Williams has gone to the Los Angeles studio of the Selig
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Company where she is ready to begin work in a series of wild animal film
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stories. En route to the studio city, she stopped at her father's home in El
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Paso, where she was lavishly entertained during her short stop-over. At her
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arrival at the Edendale studio of the Selig house, she was given an impromptu
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reception at which she was heartily welcomed back after her two years'
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affiliation with the Chicago studio.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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January 4, 1913
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Kathlyn Williams
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MOVING PICTURE WORLD
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Kathlyn Williams, Selig's leading woman, has a new hobby. She is
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learning to be an aviatoress, or an aviatoreaux or an aviatrice--anyhow,
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she's learning to run a flying machine. She has been making frequent ascents
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with Glenn Martin who says he is one of the most promising pupils he has ever
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had, and who thinks she will be ready to try it alone in a month or so.
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March 15, 1913
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MOTOGRAPHY
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Miss Kathlyn Williams, leading woman of the Selig Polyscope company was
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married on the afternoon of March 4, to Frank R. Allen, an actor.
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Allen is 39 and Miss Williams is 28. She is known as the "California
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Venus." A den of wildcats is said to have played a part in this "movies"
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romance. A clever office boy had written a scenario which involved a venture
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into a wild animal cage, and the film was made out at the wild animal farm
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near Eastlake Park. Miss Williams ventured into the cage of wildcats while
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Allen stood outside. It was a perilous moment, and Allen knew then for the
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first time from the way his heart jumped up into his throat that he loved the
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heroine. Miss Williams' intuition probably let her in on the secret even
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before that. Anyhow, the wild-cat scene helped to precipitate matters and
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the almost-immediate marriage followed.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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[Kathlyn Williams was selected to lead the grand march at the 1914
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Photoplayers' Club St. Valentine's Ball. See TAYLOROLOGY #47.]
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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April 1914
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Kathlyn Williams
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PHOTOPLAY
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...In "Lost in the Jungle" I had to lie with my face hidden behind a log
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until my director gave me the signal to raise up. I thought he had forgotten
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and raised my head as a leopard jumped over the log. Scared at my sudden
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appearance, the leopard struck as he passed over me, and although I ducked,
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I sustained a bad scalp wound. But I blamed myself, not the leopard...
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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April 1914
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Richard Willis
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PHOTOPLAY
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Kathlyn the Intrepid
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In private life Kathlyn Williams furnishes a genuine surprise. So
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closely associated has she been of late with deeds of daring and dangerous
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exploits that one expects to find a dashing, mannish woman arrayed in more or
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less masculine attire. So it is almost disconcerting to find a decidedly
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womanly lady, quietly but tastefully dressed and one whose charm is increased
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by a beautifully modulated voice.
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We got right down to business, and I was permitted to smoke.
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"Give me some particulars of your early life," I asked her.
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"That is easy and brief," said Miss Williams. "I was born at Butte,
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Montana, where my father was a mining man. We moved to Helena, where I had
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my early schooling. I was an only child."
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"Spoiled?" I queried.
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"Not more than other 'only' children," she answered with a smile, "but I
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had a will of my own. I grew up in an atmosphere of animals and music, for
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my mother was an accomplished musician and possessed a beautiful voice, which
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she used freely for the benefit of charity and at concerts. But she never
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sang professionally."
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"Then you do not inherit your talent for acting?"
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"No, but mother gave me her artistic temperament, and I often think that
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father's vocation prepared me for the many hard knocks I have had from time
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to time. I had a fine voice myself as a child and the chief desire of my
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mother's heart was that I should be a great singer. But I silently treasured
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a longing for the stage--I always had that. I studied elocution and voice
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culture at the Wesleyan University at Helena and frequently sang at concerts,
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and Senator Clark took a great interest in my welfare. I tried hard to
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persuade him to help me get to New York, but he joined with my mother in
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insisting that I remain and finish my schooling. So I kept right on with my
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elocution and did a lot of secret studying, for my girl's heart was quite
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made up--I would go on the stage. I was happy there, too," and Miss Williams
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smiled reflectively.
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I left her alone awhile, back in the old school with her companions, and
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then broke the charm.
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"And then?"
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"Oh! excuse me. I was quite lost, wasn't I? Well, then came the great
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event of my life when I started for the metropolis with the assistance of
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Senator Clark. Once there I soon found that my mother's dreams would not
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come true. That wonderful teacher and woman, Madame Shaw, told me plainly
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that I had mistreated and overused my voice and that I would never make a
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great singer. My mother was bitterly disappointed, dear soul, but I was
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secretly relieved. The operatic career did not appeal to me at all."
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"So you returned to the mines and mother?"
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"I did not," returned Miss Williams emphatically. "I stayed on and
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entered the Sargent school of acting, sometimes called the Empire. It was a
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fine school and I made great progress, and after two years of hard work I
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passed successfully, with five others, out of a class of over forty pupils.
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The other five have done well, though I do not remember all their names.
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Doris Keane was one and Martin Brown was another."
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"Then you went home and --"
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Miss Williams stopped me. "This is my story. Light that cigar again
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and let me ramble on in my own way. My first engagement was with William
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Morris in 'When We Were Twenty-One,' and after a while I followed Maxine
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Elliott in the part and was starred in it and played in it for two years.
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And then I took that home rest you are so anxious about."
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"Ah, I knew it was coming," I muttered.
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"Why?"
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"Oh, because it is easy to see you are a home lover by your
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surroundings, and that dog is used to that very spot by your chair, and you
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have the pictures of your friends around you."
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"Yes, I love home and spend all my time between it and the studios."
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|
"What came after the vacation?" I asked.
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"I joined the Willard Mack stock company at Salt Lake City and then came
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|
to Los Angeles and played at the Belasco Theatre. And it was while acting
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there that I received a telephone call from David Griffith of the Biograph to
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call and see him. He wanted me to take a special part in one of his
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|
pictures. I was most indignant; how dare anyone even suggest that I would so
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|
lower myself as to play for the screen? I would not have gone at all, but a
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friend suggested that I look into it 'for fun;' and that is exactly the
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spirit that I was in when I first met Mr. Griffith. I had my nose very much
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in the air, and Mr. Griffith saw that I did not take kindly to the idea. But
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he had met people like me before, and he persuaded me to try it out.
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|
"I remember the first day's work. We finished late and I was informed
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|
that no tickets would be issued. I was to have received $10, by the way.
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Then I knew I was foolish, and that I would never receive my pay. But the
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next night I was handed twenty dollars, to my surprise. Isn't it funny the
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|
ideas we all have about pictures before we go into them?"
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|
I joined in the laugh, for I have met many actors and actresses who have
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|
felt the same way about motion picture acting; I did the same myself.
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|
"Now tell me something about your picture experiences," I requested.
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|
"I was so much impressed with the treatment I received at the hands of
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Mr. Griffith and at my surroundings that I was in a receptive mood when it
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came to talking about a regular salary. I joined, and have been working in
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pictures ever since, and that covers a period of five years. Over four years
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of this have been spent with Selig, for David Griffith gave me a personal
|
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|
introduction to Mr. Selig, and I went over to his company. I have worked for
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the Selig firm in Chicago and Jacksonville and in Los Angeles. By the way,
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in the first picture I acted in with Biograph I was a heavy and played
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opposite to Dell Henderson, and Marion Leonard was the heroine. I also
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believe that I acted in the first multiple-reel ever put on, and was in 'Ten
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|
Nights in a Bar-Room,' which was put on at Jacksonville. I took the
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|
emotional part, of course. I also played in my first animal picture down
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|
there in Florida."
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"Do you like the animal pictures?" I asked her.
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"Yes, I do. I ought to, considering the added popularity they have
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brought me. But my heart is in tense dramatic work, and I love mystical and
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psychological photoplays more than any others. Here is something that I have
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|
never breathed before. In years to come I look forward to putting on my own
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|
photoplays, in my own way."
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"Do you think that women make successful producers or directors?" I
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asked, quizzically.
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Miss Williams took issue with me promptly. "Yes, I honestly believe
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that women pay far more attention to details than men, and that counts for a
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lot, you know. I believe that women would make as big a success directing as
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men, if given the right chances and opportunity. You know I produced two or
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|
three of my own photoplays, do you not?"
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I acknowledged my ignorance.
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|
"One in particular, 'Balu, the Leopard's Foundling,' was a great
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|
success. I wrote the play, produced it, and took the lead--a wild girl
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|
brought up with the leopards. There were some excellent effects in it, and a
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|
leopard ran at me and put its head on my shoulder at the right moment. Isn't
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|
that enough for you?"
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|
"Not quite. What are your likes and dislikes?"
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|
"I dislike being interviewed for one, and housework for another. I like
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|
home and books, and then more books, animals of every shape, size and color,
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|
and everything connected with the glorious out-of-doors. I am a rabid
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|
baseball fan, and like fencing. Music is a passion with me, and one of my
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|
dearest friends is Signor Ruggiero Leoncavallo, who always sends me his
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|
compositions. Then I love pretty frocks and the society of nice, sensible
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|
women. There is my automobile, which must not be forgotten. Motoring is my
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|
favorite outdoor recreation. Is that enough?"
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|
"Nearly; but tell me if you ever want to get back to the stage?"
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|
"Yes. We all do, you know, but the pictures fascinate me, too. I would
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|
like to return and play another part like Mrs. Dane in 'Mrs. Dane's Defense.'
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|
It was my favorite part, I think.
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|
"My picture experiences have taught me, however, that seeing myself in
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|
moving pictures is the most helpful and the most discouraging criticism an
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|
actress can have. It's the severe test of looking at yourself from the
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|
outside and at a distance.
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|
"Mannerisms positively stare at you from a picture, when they would pass
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|
unnoticed on the stage. The searching light of the picture camera seems to
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|
have reveled in your faults.
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|
"Daylight hours, the opportunity to live at home, the wonderful variety
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|
of characters and the opportunity for study are the chief inducements the
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|
pictures afford a player. And then, I like being a Photoplayer because I
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|
like doing the difficult, unexpected things. The strenuous but ever
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|
|
fascinating work is also the finest course in figure development I know of.
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|
Practically every day since I joined the Selig Company I have indulged freely
|
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|
|
in horseback riding, walking, tennis, golf or some such form of recreation,
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|
in addition to the daily studio work.
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|
"Mr. Selig and the studio officials always encourage the players in this
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|
respect, and half of our time is spent out in the open. A healthy, athletic
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|
|
life contributes more toward physical perfection than any other one thing,
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|
and there is no country in the world where this can be more surely guaranteed
|
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|
|
than right here in the United States.
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|
"Let me see if there is anything else. Oh, yes, I write scenarios at
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|
times, and have had several produced. 'Balu' was one, and 'What Kitty Did'
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|
|
was another."
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|
"Well, I guess I'll let you off now," I said.
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|
"My, I have forgotten the most important thing of all," broke in the
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|
lady. "My aviation experiences. I am really fascinated with flying, and one
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|
|
of these days I mean to fly regularly. I have taken a number of lessons with
|
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|
Glenn Martin and am quite an expert, I can assure you. I had my first flight
|
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|
|
with poor Max Lillie in Chicago. He was killed later, and I was so sorry.
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|
|
He was a nice fellow. We went up a thousand feet and I lost all sense of
|
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|
|
fear after the first few minutes. Then, I believe I was the first woman ever
|
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|
|
to fly in a hydro-aeroplane. Yes, the strange sensation of flying through
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|
|
space fascinates me.
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|
"No, I am not afraid.
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|
"Look," she whispered, as I started toward the door, "hardly anyone
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|
|
knows my life is charmed! See my talisman?"
|
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|
|
And she lifted into the light a tiny bit of ivory, wonderfully carved in
|
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|
|
the shape of a fish. It is the gift of a woman who saw Kathlyn Williams on a
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|
|
screen in a remote little hamlet in England.
|
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|
|
Then I left this handsome lady with the blonde hair and the intrepid
|
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|
|
blue eyes--left her smiling and patting Boris, the son of an English bulldog
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|
|
which cost $10,000. Boris was presented to Miss Williams by Mr. Selig.
|
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|
|
I enjoyed the chat immensely, and she made it so pleasant and easy for me.
|
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|
I join the general public--I like Kathlyn Williams.
|
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|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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|
March 13, 1915
|
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|
|
MOTOGRAPHY
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|
Kathlyn Williams Visits Chicago
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|
Together with Director Colin Campbell and his wife, Miss Kathlyn
|
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|
|
Williams, the leading lady of the Selig Polyscope Company, stopped in Chicago
|
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|
|
this week on her way to Los Angeles from Panama, via New York, and though she
|
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|
|
had just completed one part of the tiresome journey across the continent and
|
|
|
|
had the remainder directly before her, she was in the happiest of moods when
|
|
|
|
seen by a MOTOGRAPHY interviewer. Of course, like the conventional
|
|
|
|
interviewer always does, he asked her what role she liked best, expecting her
|
|
|
|
to say "Kathlyn" without hesitation.
|
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|
|
"While I fully enjoyed my part in the 'Adventures of Kathlyn,'" she
|
|
|
|
replied to the question, "I cannot in justice to my other roles say that I
|
|
|
|
liked it best. Every play presents a new problem and I really think that I
|
|
|
|
work just as hard and am just as dissatisfied with myself in every character
|
|
|
|
for which I am cast. The part of Mrs. Van Courtland in 'The Ne'er Do Well,'
|
|
|
|
which we filmed in Panama, suits me perfectly, for it gives me a chance to do
|
|
|
|
a sort of character-heavy part, much like Cherry in 'The Spoilers.'"
|
|
|
|
Miss Williams' mail was delivered at this time and she paused a moment
|
|
|
|
to sort it over. A number of letters from "fans" were forwarded my mistake
|
|
|
|
and this caused the delightful "Diamond S" lead to remark that one of the
|
|
|
|
pleasing trials of a screen actress' life was the receiving of many letters
|
|
|
|
every day. "Some of the letters are really helpful," she said, "for the
|
|
|
|
writers are earnest students of the screen, while others express admiration.
|
|
|
|
They are all a source of great inspiration to me."
|
|
|
|
"Would you advise young women to study the art of silent rather than
|
|
|
|
strait dramatic action," the interviewer queried, knowing that Miss Williams'
|
|
|
|
advice on this question would interest thousands of girls who aspired to
|
|
|
|
become actresses.
|
|
|
|
"Unless a girl has talent I would not advise her to enter dramatic work
|
|
|
|
at all," she replied, "but if the talent is there and is backed by ambition
|
|
|
|
and determination to succeed, plus personality, I certainly would not
|
|
|
|
discourage her. I think that training in a dramatic school or in a stock
|
|
|
|
company under a good director is really essential for success in pictures,
|
|
|
|
though many have made good without it. So many young girls ask me that
|
|
|
|
question and I tell them all of my own experience. I attended dramatic
|
|
|
|
school and then toured with several dramatic companies. After that I worked
|
|
|
|
in stock in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles and then entered pictures with the
|
|
|
|
Selig Company, where I have been for six years."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
June 24, 1916
|
|
|
|
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
|
|
|
|
Real Reel Romance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stage lovers, film fans, and friends of Kathlyn Williams, Selig featured
|
|
|
|
star, will be agreeably surprised to learn of her marriage, which took place
|
|
|
|
in Riverside, near here, one Friday, June 2. Charles F. Eyton, a well-known
|
|
|
|
picture manager, is the bridegroom. Mr. Eyton and Miss Williams, accompanied
|
|
|
|
by relatives and close friends, departed for Riverside at noon and were
|
|
|
|
married at 5:30. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. I. D. Van Arnan in
|
|
|
|
the rectory of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. The bridal party
|
|
|
|
comprised Juan De La Cruz, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Von Saxman, Mr. and Mrs. Al
|
|
|
|
Filson and Mr. and Mrs. Ed. J. LeSaint.
|
|
|
|
Miss Williams is one of the bright stars of filmland, beloved from the
|
|
|
|
Atlantic to the Pacific by that great army of Americans who march daily upon
|
|
|
|
the moving picture theaters of the country. Mr. Eyton is one of the owners
|
|
|
|
of the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, and has been connected with the
|
|
|
|
local show world for the past sixteen years.
|
|
|
|
The marriage was the culmination of a romance that had its inception in
|
|
|
|
Salt Lake City some ten years ago. At that time Miss Williams was a member
|
|
|
|
of the Willard Mack Stock Company, which was playing in the Utah city. Fate
|
|
|
|
sent Mr. Eyton there to overlook a new play, in which Mr. Morosco was
|
|
|
|
interested. He met Miss Williams and was greatly attracted by her ability
|
|
|
|
and beauty. Shortly afterward they became engaged and the wedding day was
|
|
|
|
set, when the inevitable "lovers' quarrel" occurred and they drifted along
|
|
|
|
different paths, only to meet again in this city about a year ago.
|
|
|
|
Mr. and Mrs. Eyton left for an extended trip through the Eastern States.
|
|
|
|
Upon their return they will be at home to their legion of friends at their
|
|
|
|
home, 858 Bryan Street.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
August 26, 1916
|
|
|
|
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams Joins Morosco
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams, the well-known film star who has just resigned from
|
|
|
|
the Selig Company, has signed a long-term contract to appear under the
|
|
|
|
Morosco-Pallas brands on the Paramount program. Promptly upon resigning from
|
|
|
|
Selig, Miss Williams received four attractive offers to star in big subjects
|
|
|
|
but decided in favor of Morosco-Pallas in lieu of its standing in the field
|
|
|
|
and its affiliation with the Paramount program.
|
|
|
|
Although Miss Williams today enjoys a country-wide popularity, and
|
|
|
|
justly so, her success in motion pictures has not been of the "overnight"
|
|
|
|
variety. Seven years ago, in company with Mary Pickford, Arthur Johnson,
|
|
|
|
Henry Walthall, Billy Quirk and other now famous members of the "old guard"
|
|
|
|
at Biograph under D. W. Griffith, she received her early schooling in the
|
|
|
|
silent drama.
|
|
|
|
In dramatic stock she appeared under the managements of Belasco, Willard
|
|
|
|
Mack and William Morris, which fitted her well for the demands of the
|
|
|
|
photoplay. On leaving Biograph, Miss Williams became associated with the
|
|
|
|
Selig Company under whose trade-mark she appeared up until her recent
|
|
|
|
resignation. In the title role of "The Adventures of Kathlyn" she starred in
|
|
|
|
the first serial photoplay ever produced, a twenty-six-reel subject, which
|
|
|
|
resulted in adding many new admirers to her large following. Among her film
|
|
|
|
successes are "The Spoilers," "The Rosary," "The Ne'er-Do-Well," "Back to the
|
|
|
|
Primitive," "The Two Orphans," "Thou Shalt Not Covet," etc.
|
|
|
|
The new Morosco-Pallas star has also attained considerable distinction
|
|
|
|
as a writer and is a member of the Author's League. Among her offerings in
|
|
|
|
this field are "Thy Will Be Done," "The Last Dance," "Strange Case of Talmai
|
|
|
|
Lind" and many others, all of which have been produced.
|
|
|
|
Miss Williams will start on her initial subject for the Paramount
|
|
|
|
program early next month. The production has already been decided upon and,
|
|
|
|
it is understood, displays a big theme particularly suited to the dramatic
|
|
|
|
talents of the star.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
October 14, 1916
|
|
|
|
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams, the popular Morosco-Pallas star, has just been honored
|
|
|
|
with an invitation from the Wisconsin State University, to deliver a series
|
|
|
|
of lectures on the art of making motion pictures.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
October 1917
|
|
|
|
Frances Denton
|
|
|
|
PHOTOPLAY
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn's Memory Box
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams likes corn beef and cabbage, steak with fried onions,
|
|
|
|
big round sausages flavored with garlic, Epicetus, (which she says, is a
|
|
|
|
different kind of food altogether), two little puppies in a box in the best
|
|
|
|
room upstairs (little pink and white things that didn't have their eyes
|
|
|
|
open), leopards (with cages or without), Mark Twain, A Child's History of
|
|
|
|
England, and writing scenarios for George Beban. She likes to go to the
|
|
|
|
theatre and laughs in the right places and cries in the right places, too.
|
|
|
|
She frequently forgets to criticize and seldom forgets to applaud. All of
|
|
|
|
which goes to show that Kathlyn Williams is a regular highbrow, and the best
|
|
|
|
fellow in the world to have "out front" and, incidentally, an actress, with
|
|
|
|
the emphasis on the ACT--but nobody needs to be told that.
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams and George Began are two stars without a spark of
|
|
|
|
jealousy between them. Miss Williams has just finished writing a scenario
|
|
|
|
for George Beban whose talents she praises highly, and he has returned the
|
|
|
|
compliment by writing a scenario for her.
|
|
|
|
(Romance hunters please note: George Beban has a perfectly good wife
|
|
|
|
and Kathlyn Williams is married to Charles Eyton, manager of the Morosco
|
|
|
|
studio, and very happy, thank you.).
|
|
|
|
From the scenario she had just written, the conversation drifted to the
|
|
|
|
moving picture of the future.
|
|
|
|
"I wonder," the famous Kathlyn said thoughtfully, "if the pictures we
|
|
|
|
are making will look as crude a few years from now as those made by the old
|
|
|
|
Biograph Company look to us know?"
|
|
|
|
Kathlyn Williams joined that famous company just a little later than
|
|
|
|
Mary Pickford, Blanche Sweet and Mae Marsh. However, she considers herself
|
|
|
|
very much of a pioneer having been the star of the first serial picture ever
|
|
|
|
made. This was the famous Adventures of Kathlyn. The "Adventures" ran about
|
|
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|
fifteen months and many an audience sat with its collective muscles tensed
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and its collective mouth wide open, while an "episode" closed with the
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heroine standing on the end of a bluff and looking into the face of a yawning
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tiger.
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"The worst nuisance of all in those days," said Miss Williams,
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reminiscing, "was the trade mark. It had to appear in every scene. Remember
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how, during some particularly pathetic parting, the circle with "AB" on it,
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was always the featured prop? I only appeared in three pictures with the
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Biograph and then I joined Selig. There you recall the brand was the
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'diamond S.' Once, after the making of a scene in one of our worst
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thrillers, Mr. Bosworth and myself were both badly bruised up. Just as we
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were congratulating ourselves on having finished the thing, we discovered
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that the property man had forgotten to hang the trademark in a sufficiently
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conspicuous place and we had to do it all over again. Sometimes we would get
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miles out on location, discover that the trade-mark had been forgotten, and
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be unable to do a moment's work until someone went back and got it."
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Miss Williams was so suspicious of everything connected with the
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pictures at the time she met D. W. Griffith, that she was surprised when he
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paid for her work.
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"I was playing in stock," she explained. "One week when I was not
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working, someone called me up from the Biograph studio and asked if I would
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work two days for them. I was dreadfully insulted at first, but I went out
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of curiosity expecting to be offered about fifty cents a day. Mr. Griffith
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met me and said that he would give me ten dollars a day for two days work.
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Frankly, I didn't believe him. Later, he told me that he had run out of
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checks and would pay me in full the next day. Naturally I thought it was all
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a bluff. The only reason I ever went back to the studio was to see how he
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would wiggle out of giving me the money. That night he gave me two crisp ten
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dollar bills and the shock nearly killed me."
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Miss Williams' first picture with Selig was "Mazeppa," in one reel. It
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was very widely advertised and was considered the greatest moving picture
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ever made.
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"Imagine a subject like that being put into one reel today," she said.
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"Why, almost any company would give nine hundred feet to the wild ride of
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Mazeppa alone. We had a real wild horse, too. A maverick fifteen years old
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that had never been touched by the hand of man. Some men dragged him down
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from the hills for the making of that picture.
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"This sounds like a press-agent story," she added, looking at me with a
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deadly-serious expression in her blue eyes, "but it really isn't. Everyone
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has forgotten that picture long ago," I nodded, and she went on.
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"The first three-reel picture was a great sensation. Nearly everyone in
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the business said that the public would never sit through so long a picture
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regardless of how good it was. In these days when many a story that could be
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told in one reel is put into five, it seems funny to recall those remarks
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about 'long' pictures. This picture was 'Ten Nights in a Bar Room' and, we
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thought, cost a fabulous sum. But the scenery was so flimsy that whenever a
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door was closed the whole set would shake. However, nobody noticed a little
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thing like that."
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"Kathlyn" was born in Montana, a country of magnificent distances. The
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permanent effect her early surroundings must have had on her character is
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shown in the design of her house, as well as in her every movement. The
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house is built on the side of a hill and has very large rooms, ceilings of
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extraordinary height, a wide veranda, and two wide driveways. Miss Williams'
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bedroom is as large as three ordinary rooms. Her occasional gestures are
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always upward and outward, never inward, toward herself. She talks in a
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quiet, straight-forward manner and looks directly at one from clear blue eyes
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set rather far apart.
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"What did I want to be when I was a little girl?" she said, repeating my
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question. "Oh, that was funny! Nearly every girl has wanted to be a nun at
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one time and an actress at another, but I wanted to be both at the same time.
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It was a very real tragedy to me that I couldn't figure out some way in which
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the two could be reconciled. When I grew to be a little older I realized it
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would be absolutely necessary to choose between them. So, I decided to be an
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actress.
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"Kathlyn Williams believes that the costume picture will be the most
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popular picture of the future. This does not necessarily mean the big
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spectacle with an involved plot, elaborate processions, and innumerable
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|
characters. But rather the short dramatic stories that history and the Bible
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|
abound with and the beauty of which is almost invariably lost when changed
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from one period to another.
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"Some day," she said, a little wistfully, "I may get a chance to try
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with all the best in me to 'put over' the 'tender grace of a day that is
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dead' so that people will feel the real romance and humor of it all as I do."
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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February 1920
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Doris Delvigne
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MOTION PICTURE
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Kathlyn of the Golden West
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When the maid opened a porch door leading into an exquisite hall with a
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Colonial-looking stairway, I was not quite sure whether to inquire for "Miss
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Williams" or Mrs. Eyton. But the old name stuck somehow, and the maid was
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|
evidently quite accustomed to its use.
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|
In the five minutes' grace which I had before she appeared, I was struck
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|
with the very first intimation of Kathlyn Williams' love of freedom. Her
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rooms are arranged so one might walk about in the dark with no danger of
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knocks and bruises. The big chairs and stuffed davenport are pushed to odd
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|
corners of the room; there is a simplicity in the softly shaded, crushed
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mulberry surroundings which is delightful.
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|
And when she came into the room, her hand extended in greeting, I found
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her typically the Western girl. With the mountains for her inspiration and
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the unexplored mines of her native Montana to fire her imagination, she has
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not lost that easy sociability, blended with a certain delightful aloofness
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|
which would indicate her pleasure in the society of humankind, but a firm
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resolve to live her own life, free from mental intrusions.
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"This morning I had the highest flight I've enjoyed so far," she told
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me, enthusiastically. "We rose to over four thousand feet. I do love that
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feeling of freedom which one just can't get anywhere save in the air. I hope
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to learn to fly alone some day. It will be a great thing to be alone with
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one's thoughts, far away from everything sordid," smiled the beautiful Mrs.
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Eyton.
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"Evidently you associate solitude with freedom," I ventured.
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"Cela va sans dire," came the positive answer, with a pretty shrug.
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"I'm afraid I'm something of a radical. I hate oppression in any form--
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perhaps that is why I avoid large gatherings when people get together and
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talk and talk and talk."
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|
One has no doubt about the bigness of Kathlyn Williams. In a way it is
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|
her birthright--she is again so evidently the girl of the West. And there is
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|
something about the Western-born girl which never enters another's make-up.
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|
You may fetter her with ties, put her in a dramatic school, give her city
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|
environment instead of her dearly loved mountains, but you cannot obliterate
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|
that indefinable air of freedom--her independence and innate dignity.
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|
"I'm not working constantly, you know," she was saying. "I did that
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|
years ago in the Selig serials. Then, too, my marriage to Mr. Eyton makes me
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|
independent, and I enjoy working in the pictures now and then when I can
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|
choose my roles. I shall never give up pictures entirely, but I do want
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little vacations in between, when I can keep house, enjoy our home and
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aviate."
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|
We drifted back to the days when Miss Williams had done "The Spoilers,"
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|
|
journeying to Panama, where the company worked for eight weeks. ["The
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|
Spoilers" was made in Southern California. "The Ne-er Do Well" was filmed in
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|
Panama.]
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|
"What do you think of 'The Spoilers,' now that you have done so many
|
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|
other pictures?" I asked.
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|
"I still consider it a very great picture in some respects. It is crude
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|
as we judge the photoplay today, of course, just as all the old productions
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|
are. However, the story was good--it had dramatic value, and that means so
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|
|
much. It means," she mused, "that 'The Spoilers' is still being shown and
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|
making money. It proves the necessity of a good story."
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|
"What are you doing now?"
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|
"Nothing at this special time--I have done five pictures this last year
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|
and will soon start on another with Mr. De Mille. I can't tell you anything
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|
about it save the fact that it will be a stupendous thing like 'Joan the
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|
Woman.' I have done 'Her Kingdom of Dreams' with Anita Stewart and 'A Girl
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|
Named Mary,' with Marguerite Clark. And I want to say right here that she is
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|
a dear little thing. She's one girl who is tailor-made when it comes to
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|
business. She is never known to keep a director waiting. If the rest of us
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|
have to be on hand in make-up at 7 p.m. Miss Clark is there also.
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|
"I've just finished a fine part in 'The Tree of Knowledge,'--it's a
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|
|
heavy, the second time I have played a role of this sort, but it is real,
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|
|
--true,--about a resourceful woman and it allows one's imagination full
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|
play."
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|
"The year before last you were not seen much on the screen?" We gently
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|
led the star of "The Perils [sic] of Kathlyn" back to the silversheet when
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|
the talk again drifted. She would so much rather talk about her hobby--it
|
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|
being animals--not an unnatural hobby either when one remembers her old Selig
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|
pictures with the lions and jaguars.
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|
"I was very ill," she told me, "and for several months I was compelled
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|
|
to rest and recuperate, which made a trip with Mr. Eyton to New York
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|
|
possible. Then he was ill with the flu, and just when I was recovering I had
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|
|
to take full charge of his sickroom, for it was impossible to get a nurse
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|
|
during that epidemic, as you'll remember. The very fact that I had to nurse
|
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|
|
one so ill helped me to get well--I ceased to have time to be depressed and
|
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|
|
nervous over my own state."
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|
It doesn't take one long to know Kathlyn Williams as self-sufficient.
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|
She belittles domesticity in no way, yet she feels that a person satisfied to
|
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|
do nothing but make the social rounds, with no thought of things outside of
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|
her clubs, is more or less stagnant, and even though the screen work is not a
|
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|
|
necessity to her, she will always find time for a characterization now and
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|
|
then, perhaps in later years less frequently than at present.
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|
She is essentially not the type to talk--she is a doer. Her life
|
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|
|
contains many interests, varied interests. She detests notoriety and only
|
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|
|
lends her name to an enterprise if it will assist in bringing in funds for a
|
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|
|
good purpose.
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|
She is sweet, gracious--and big--a typical Girl o' the Golden West, with
|
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|
|
a heart stretching to cover every living thing with a benevolent purpose.
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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|
July 9, 1921
|
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|
MOVIE WEEKLY
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|
Co-Starring with Death
|
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|
Ten years ago an actress visited a circus in Florida. A successful
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|
|
leading woman, her path of life had been far from those whose profession is
|
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|
|
the subjugation of wild animals. And yet in a few months to stroll calmly in
|
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|
|
the cages of lions and leopards was but part of her daily work and she had
|
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|
|
accomplished feats of courage that are still a by-word with animal trainers.
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|
|
In the next few years, Death was her leading man, not once, but many times.
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|
|
Although now she confines herself entirely to straight acting, there are
|
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|
|
etched on the tablets of her memory unforgettable moments when steel-strong
|
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|
claws tore at her scalp and ton-heavy elephant hoofs missed her helpless body
|
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|
|
only by inches.
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|
She can tell the same tales of early days around the studios that one
|
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|
|
hears from other experienced actors; tales of sets that swayed in the wind,
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|
|
and of present day stars who then thankfully played in crowd scenes.
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|
But she can surpass these with experiences that no one else has equaled
|
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|
|
or ever will equal. For in the days when animal pictures were in special
|
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|
|
vogue, she reigned supreme.
|
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|
|
Kathlyn Williams gained international renown for her remarkable feats
|
|
|
|
with wild beasts in "The Adventures of Kathlyn," but seldom can she be
|
|
|
|
induced to tell of them. The following article will relate many experiences
|
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|
|
which are seeing print for the first time.
|
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|
|
"They were so terribly real," she explains, "that I didn't want to talk
|
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|
|
about them. And when I did, nobody would believe me. But as quite a number
|
|
|
|
of years have passed, perhaps they will be of historical value in recording
|
|
|
|
some of the things we underwent while the photoplay was being developed from
|
|
|
|
an experiment to an art form.
|
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|
|
"Take 'The Adventures of Kathlyn' for instance. That has been acclaimed
|
|
|
|
as the first of the great thrillers. And yet nine people out of ten would
|
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|
|
probably sit with me in a projection room and term as 'faked' many scenes in
|
|
|
|
which members of our cast risked their lives and were often painfully injured-
|
|
|
|
-not to speak of the excitement for all Los Angeles when a lioness escaped
|
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|
|
and roamed around the city for several hours.
|
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|
|
"Perhaps one of my biggest personal thrills came from the well-known
|
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|
|
habit of domestic kittens in jumping at moving string or other such object.
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|
The scene called for me to be alone 'in the jungle' as a pack of twenty-four
|
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|
|
lions rushed on.
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|
|
"Now lions are called 'cats' by animal trainers because of their
|
|
|
|
relation in appearance, habits and family to the ordinary fire-side pet. And
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|
under ordinary circumstances there would have been no danger, as the twenty-
|
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|
|
four beasts, while young, had been carefully trained. But just as the door
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|
|
to their cage was opened, a breeze sprang up, and the loose bits of my
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|
|
costume flew here and there. This produced in the young lions all of the
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|
|
'kittenish' impulses common to young cats--and as individuals they playfully
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|
|
jumped for the tassels. Had I ever gone down it would have been really
|
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|
|
serious, as even the most carefully trained lion is liable to grow panicky
|
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|
|
with a human under its paws.. But fortunately I reached the safety cage in
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|
|
time.
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|
"And there are always little accidents that bring unexpected crises.
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|
One day a leopard went 'bad' and started for me. There was plenty of room
|
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|
|
for me to run--but just before I reached the safety cage, I tripped and fell.
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|
In my scalp today are ten claw marks where the leopard 'got home' before I
|
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|
|
was dragged to safety, and in my mind the thought of what might have happened
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|
|
had the attendant keepers been less adept at my rescue.
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|
|
"Now I know you're sure to ask the question--so let me say right now
|
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|
that I'm deathly afraid of a mouse! I've never been afraid of big animals
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|
because I have always liked them--and when you like them they return your
|
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|
|
friendship--but little crawling things--ugh!"
|
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|
|
Certainly Kathlyn Williams in appearance is truly feminine. Modishly
|
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|
|
slender and with a grace of movement that has long been a characteristic of
|
|
|
|
her stage and screen work, Miss Williams today presides graciously over a
|
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|
|
beautiful hill-top home that overlooks all of Los Angeles, and as one wanders
|
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|
|
through rooms decorated in perfect taste and abounding in those alluring
|
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|
|
touches which are so truly feminine--it is hard to believe that the fair
|
|
|
|
mistress of this "home" home has perhaps faced death more often than any
|
|
|
|
other living woman; or at any rate, that she has gone through such
|
|
|
|
experiences and remained just the same sweet representative of the gentler
|
|
|
|
sex.
|
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|
|
For some years before entering pictures, Miss Williams had been
|
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|
|
extremely successful as a stage leading woman. At the close of one season
|
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|
|
she entered motion pictures with that master David Wark Griffith, playing
|
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|
|
with Mary Pickford, Dell Henderson and Arthur Johnson in a one-reel drama,
|
|
|
|
entitled "All Is Not Gold." Upon leaving Mr. Griffith, Miss Williams
|
|
|
|
appeared in such famous old pictures as "Ten Nights in a Bar Room" and "The
|
|
|
|
Two Orphans," the first and second three-reel pictures ever made. She also
|
|
|
|
starred in "The Landing of Columbus," the first picture to reach the $50,000
|
|
|
|
mark.
|
|
|
|
It was while she was in Florida doing a drama for the Selig company that
|
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|
|
Miss Williams received the urge for animal work. A wintering circus
|
|
|
|
fascinated her, and she spent hours around the animals, getting so that she
|
|
|
|
would reach between the bars and pet with impunity lions and tigers that even
|
|
|
|
the keepers feared.
|
|
|
|
"I liked animals," she says, "and that's really all there is to it--that
|
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|
|
and not being afraid of them. Animals are very sensitive to your feelings
|
|
|
|
toward them and react accordingly. If you fear an animal, it will sense your
|
|
|
|
fear immediately, no matter how bold a front you may put up. And if you
|
|
|
|
can't get along with dogs and cats, don't waste your time by attempting to
|
|
|
|
work professionally with lions, tigers and other wild beasts. For they are
|
|
|
|
all of the same blood and the instinct for friends or enemies is bred in the
|
|
|
|
bone. And 'cats,' lions, tigers and leopards, are especially sensitive and
|
|
|
|
high-strung. Place the wrong sort of a keeper with them, and a feud may
|
|
|
|
start that will throw the animals off their disposition for weeks and make it
|
|
|
|
exceedingly difficult to win them back again.
|
|
|
|
"When the proposal was made that I appear in animal pictures, I gladly
|
|
|
|
accepted, because it was unusual and promised a real change from regular
|
|
|
|
dramatic work. Besides, if I were to succeed, it would give me all the
|
|
|
|
prestige of a pioneer in a new field. And while I knew nothing of the
|
|
|
|
professional tricks of the animal trainer, I felt positive that my love for
|
|
|
|
the beasts would carry me through. And it did!"
|
|
|
|
And it was not all with the "cats" that Miss Williams had her most
|
|
|
|
thrilling experiences. It was while she was working with elephants, the
|
|
|
|
"bulls" as they are called, that she came closest to Death's door.
|
|
|
|
"Lions you can fight if they go 'bad,'" says Miss Williams, "or at least
|
|
|
|
it is possible to hold them off until the endangered one gets to safety. But
|
|
|
|
when a herd of elephants goes berserk, they are absolutely uncontrollable.
|
|
|
|
Their force is so irresistible that all one can do is trust to luck.
|
|
|
|
"Thomas Santschi and I were working together when the group of six
|
|
|
|
elephants we were using stampeded. The next few minutes were the most
|
|
|
|
terrifying in all my life. In the Selig enclosure there is a small forest of
|
|
|
|
towering eucalyptus trees, with a ten-foot board fence at the farther side.
|
|
|
|
Those elephants went through the trees as if they weren't there, snapping
|
|
|
|
them off like so many matches, shoving the fence to one side as easily as the
|
|
|
|
ordinary persons turns the pages of the morning paper.
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"Mr. Santschi and I were in a howdah on the back of one, holding on for
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dear life. Then our 'bull' knocked the howdah off against a tree and all we
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could do was hang to a ring on his cinch and pray.
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"We expected to be killed at any moment, so decided to take a chance and
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jump. Mr. Santschi jumped first and fell free. Then I jumped, just in time
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to see another 'bull' come up past the tail of mine. When I hit the ground I
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rolled up into a ball, expecting to feel the following elephant's massive
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hoof at any instant. But whether or not my prayers were heard--the fact
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remains that just at the last fraction of a second he turned and passed on
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the other side of the 'bull' from which I had jumped."
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Miss Williams laughed.
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"One of the funniest things about my animal work is the fact that I've
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never actually gotten out of it--even now when I am doing straight dramatic
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parts. Whenever they use cats, kittens and dogs which must act just so--I'm
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generally called upon. I'm the one who must see that the acting cat turns
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its head at just the proper moment or makes entrances and exists as required.
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It was like that in 'A Private Scandal,' Realart's birthday special, and also
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'Everything For Sale.' I don't think Director Frank O'Connor, of the latter
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offering, has quite forgiven me yet for using his sweater to wrap up a half
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dozen shivering little kittens I found huddled in the rain when we on
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location at Del Monte, Cal.!
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"And wild 'cats' aren't much harder to handle--when you have the
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instinct for them. At the Selig zoo there is a female jaguar called 'Minna.'
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'Minna' was one of my best friends. It grew to be quite a habit with me to
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stop by and play with her. I would put my arm in her cage and she would turn
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over on her back and play with it just like a kitten. My arms used to be
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marked the full length of the elbow with her teeth marks, but she never
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pressed hard enough to break the skin.
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"'Minna' was also possessed of a most remarkable memory. Two years
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passed before I saw her again--and I had no sooner arrived in the door of the
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zoo building than up she came to the bars of the cage to be petted.
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"And the most interesting feature was that no one else could touch her.
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One of the keepers grew jealous of my success and tried to duplicate it.
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'Minna' nearly bit his thumb off!"
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Miss Williams has been in the motion picture business since it was first
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recognized as an art. Equal in her mind with the memories of her startling
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animal experience, is a great wonder over the marvelous growth of this newest
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of arts.
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"I have just finished work in 'A Private Scandal' for Realart," she
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said. "We were on the picture just six weeks. We had splendid lights, the
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very latest obtainable; the last word in camera equipment; sets that
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represented the artistic effort of many hands and minds. My costumes alone
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took weeks of preparation. And in 1913 we used to do two pictures a week!
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And we acted quite as well in them, I believe as the players do nowadays.
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The great difference has been in the advance of technical perfection, the
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obviating of the crudities which were a part and parcel of filmdom's infancy.
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In those days people came to see pictures because they were absolutely novel
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--and we kept them coming with new novelties such as the animal thrillers in
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which I appeared.
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"But there came a day when novelties alone would not suffice. The
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photoplay found it necessary to present stories and sets equally attractive
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with those of the longer established stage--and from then on we have been
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growing towards an ideal of film art."
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Today Miss Williams is one of the ablest players in the profession. Her
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beautiful figure and wonderful blond hair added to a matured mind and
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completely artistic acting ability have made her greatly in demand for
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important productions. Playgoers will recall "Cherry Mallotte" in "The
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Spoilers," and the great characterization in "The Ne'er Do Well," which was
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acclaimed as one of the finest acting triumphs of its year. Her more recent
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appearances have been in Cecil B. De Mille's production, "Forbidden Fruit,"
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and the William De Mille productions, "The Prince Chap" and "Conrad in Quest
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of His Youth."
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In "A Private Scandal" and "Everything for Sale," she has society parts,
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which give her excellent opportunities for a display of her interpretative
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ability.
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And it is certain the years in which Kathlyn Williams "Co-Starred With
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Death," in the cages of lions and leopards, have been largely responsible for
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the firm, sure poise which makes her acting today so delightful.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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August 1921
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Aline Carter
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MOTION PICTURE
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Untouched by Ennui
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Ennui could never touch Kathlyn Williams--she is so keenly alive with a
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diversity of absorbing interests. Most of us might be tempted to believe
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that being beautiful--with lovely blonde hair, deep blue eyes and exquisite
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coloring, as well as being one of the most finished actresses on the screen
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today, were quite enough distinctive characteristics, but Miss Williams has
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added several others to her credit.
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She is domestically inclined and makes a real home for her husband,
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Charles Eyton, manager of the Lasky studio, and her young son, Victor.
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Recently she finished a course of aeronautics, winning her pilot's license
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after working steadily for two whole months learning the art of managing an
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airplane. She reads the best French literature in the original, and has
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written several successful scenarios. She designs her own lovely frocks and
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hats, and as she is conceded to be one of the most smartly gowned members of
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the local film colony, this is some achievement, and--she always seems to
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have time to devote to her family and friends.
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At the present moment her new home, an Italian villa, perched atop a
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high point in Hollywood, holds first place in Miss Williams' thoughts, and
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she has proved herself as much of an artist in building it as she has in
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creating some of her well-known screen characters.
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The house is of perfect architectural design, of soft grey plaster, set
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in a picturesque grove of olive trees. With its winding stairways, high
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ceilings, balconies and broad terraces, it suggests an atmosphere of the
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romantic that is seldom encountered.
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Through the open doorway, as we chatted, we could see Hollywood
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stretched at our feet, glistening in the morning sun. In the background lay
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the city of Los Angeles and beyond were valleys and mountains--the farthest
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|
peaks white with snow--all forming a panoramic view of enchanting beauty.
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|
The world with its crowded Broadways, its triumphs and applause, its mad
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rush and useless hurry, all seemed far removed from this peaceful spot.
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"That is one reason why I love it," remarked Miss Williams, when I spoke
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of this. "I feel so close to life's activities yet detached from its
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annoyances.
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"Hidden in that clump of shrubs and trees," she continued, pointing down
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the sharply sloping lawn, "are fifty quail which we protect from the hunter's
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gun. That is indicative of seclusion, isn't it? We have built them a
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spacious bathing pool, and they believe they are miles from any dangers.
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I find it hard to finish dressing in the mornings while I watch them proudly
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strut about their domain."
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It is in this serene quiet, a few blocks from the Lasky studio, that
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Miss Williams studies the film roles that have made her known to all the
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motion picture public as a genuine artist. She possesses a rare capacity for
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identifying herself with her characters, while her work is always finely
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tempered, subtle and well balanced.
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She has recently returned from a seven weeks' stay in New York, where
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she played a leading part in a Selznick production, "A Man's House."
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"New environment always acts as a spur to me and I thoroughly enjoyed
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the change," Miss Williams said. "I had a splendid role, that of a frivolous
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society butterfly, who, later, in the face of the crisis, proved a true
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woman. It is these human roles that I love to portray--real women with their
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temptations, development and regeneration.
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"I had many interesting experiences while East, and it seemed good to be
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in New York again. I rushed madly every minute, for besides my work at the
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studio I was trying to visit the shops, see all the new plays as well as
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meeting many celebrities.
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"One night at a director's dinner I saw Dr. Frank Crane and was
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|
delighted to find he was just as I had pictured him. I have always enjoyed
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his writings so much, and particularly last summer when my boy was ill it
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seemed as if his messages were meant especially for me. I was tempted to
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tell him this, yet hesitated--he probably has many admirers.
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"Then, one afternoon, while at tea at the Claridge, I met Rex Beach for
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the first time. Rather odd, for though I have played in several of his
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stories on the screen, and he had frequently been in Los Angeles, I had to go
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to New York to be introduced. As I had been told that his wife suggested the
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description of his Cherry Malotte, I was naturally interested in seeing Mrs.
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Beach. I found them both charming."
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We all recall Rex Beach's epic making film, "The Spoilers," which
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|
created a sensation a few years ago with what has since proved to be an all-
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star cast, and Kathlyn Williams is possibly more vividly identified with her
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famous role of Cherry Malotte than anything else she has ever done in motion
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pictures. She made this dance-hall girl of the North so splendidly human, so
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superbly alive, that it still stands out as one of the big roles seen on the
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screen.
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"The last time I saw this picture," laughed Miss Williams, "I was amused
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|
to see how hopelessly old-fashioned the clothes had become even in this short
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time. That is one thing in favor of the costume picture, which the American
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|
producers so vigorously taboo, the date would not be screaming at you from
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|
every gown and hat as it does in the modern drama."
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|
Kathlyn Williams is a western girl, having been born in Butte, Montana.
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She began her stage career as a child, and early became the protege of
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Senator W. A. Clark, of whom she speaks with much admiration as a man who is
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|
ever ready to help talent in its development.
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She attended the Wesleyan University, then studied at the Empire School
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|
of Acting in New York, later appearing in a number of well-known stage plays,
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both in the city and on tour.
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|
Coming to Los Angeles, Miss Williams became a member of the famous old
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|
Belasco stock company and was also with Willard Mack in Salt Lake City for a
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|
time. These two stock experiences she considers to be the most valuable of
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|
all her stage training.
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|
"Pictures came along just then, I joined the Biograph Company under Mr.
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|
Griffith, and have been playing before the camera ever since," and she took
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|
up the story. "I love the work now even more than at first, for there have
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|
|
been such remarkable strides made in every phase of this great art.
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|
"It offers many advantages over the stage, one of the most interesting
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|
|
being that we can see our own acting. I make it a rule to have the rushes
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|
shown each night before leaving the studio, and this keeps me from repeating
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|
my mistakes or permitting little mannerisms to creep in. It also shows how
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|
|
to improve our make-up. You would think after all my years in pictures I
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|
would know all about make-up, but the continual advancement in the lighting
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|
methods keeps us changing our methods too, and I learn something new in this
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|
direction with each picture."
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|
Doubtless, much of Kathlyn Williams' success is due to her own charming
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|
womanliness, her beauty and her dignity, but it is her rare intelligence that
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|
gives her the power of discerning the dramatic values of her roles no matter
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|
in what social realm they may abide. The whole-hearted manner in which she
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|
interprets the woman who has made a mistake, the shallow society leader, the
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|
|
demi-moral of the early West, all display her splendid understanding of the
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|
feminine mind and heard.
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|
"I enjoy what we call a sympathetic heavy," went on Miss Williams,
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|
"there are so many good-bad women--you know what I mean--and they are very
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|
human. However, I will not play a really vicious part. I do not want that
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|
wave of thought turned against me that necessarily follows the portrayal of a
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|
character in which there is no saving grace and most of all, I do not want my
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|
son to see me in such roles.
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|
"Victor is growing up so fast--" she added, happily, while I tried to
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|
|
realize this radiant young woman was the mother of a strapping boy. "He is
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|
|
learning to dance and we practice all over the house, tearing up the rugs and
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|
|
bumping the furniture against my precious walls--" and she laughed,
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|
|
indulgently.
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|
So, again we say, ennui can never bring its blight to Kathlyn Williams.
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|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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November 1921
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Marion Lake
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|
MOTION PICTURE CLASSIC
|
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|
|
The Patrician
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|
|
...Kathlyn Williams is inevitably an aristocrat. The word is
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|
unfortunate. It has lost much of its value on ignorant tongues.
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|
"Democracy!" we cry--not realizing that true aristocracy is democracy.
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|
However--
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|
There is a patrician quality which one may not deny, although she
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|
|
probably would. It is supplemented by kindliness, humor, energy.
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|
She came to the interview bravely, smiling and offering her hand.
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|
I was surprised by the suggestion of uncertainty which shaded her manner.
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|
"You will ask me questions?" she said, when she had at last got me into
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|
a chair. "I don't quite know what to say, what you want to know--?"
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|
My assurance, I am afraid, was a little vague. I didn't really know
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|
myself. I was busy noting the pale gold of her hair, her blue smiling eyes,
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|
the tremendous energy with which her whole being seemed to be vibrant, the
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|
high carriage of her head. The thought came to me that here was one, of
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|
beautiful maturity, who would, so long as she lived, remain ever young and in
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|
tune with young things. I have met many women, but among them there was only
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|
one other who had that divine gift, that sympatico.
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|
Perhaps that was why, because I sensed that thing, that I proceeded to
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|
talk about the Futility of Life, my cherished doctrine, about religion and
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|
the paradox of Faith. She listened, with apparent willingness, and then was
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|
charming enough to differ with me. She is deeply interested in Science, in
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|
Christian Science, and that is founded on Faith. As yet, she does not
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|
profess to be a Scientist. She is merely a student and investigator.
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|
How long we talked of religion, I don't know. I remember that she
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|
suddenly dismissed it with at "Goodness! How did we ever get into these
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|
depths? I am not usually this way at all."
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|
She is as dynamic in her conversation as in her person. She seizes upon
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|
a subject, shakes it out thoroughly, rinses it, and hangs it up to dry. She
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|
is anticipatory of your ideas in a decisive way that at times verges on
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|
abruptness, yet never rudely so.
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|
"I am planning to take a trip around the world very soon," she said, "to
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|
the Orient and to Europe. I shall collect things then to put into my house.
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|
I have been urged not to go. The unrest of the world is dangerous, say my
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|
friends. In almost every country there is revolution. In India, where I
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|
want particularly to go, there are extensive uprisings. It is probable that
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|
I would be refused a passport. But I don't like to put it off. I want to go
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|
now, while I am young enough to have a good time, to endure hardship and
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|
enjoy it if it is necessary."
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|
One has come to associate Kathlyn Williams with the Lasky players. Her
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|
consistent appearance in a good many of their productions, in "Conrad in
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|
|
|
Quest of His Youth," in "Forbidden Fruit," and more recently with May McAvoy
|
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|
|
in "A Virginia Courtship," and "A Private Scandal," have tended to confirm
|
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|
|
the belief of a contract. But she is independent, and apparently prefers to
|
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|
|
remain so. She has no longer any need to tie herself to labor. Her very
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|
happy marriage, the interests of her big place on the hill, have tended to
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|
draw her away from that.
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|
We rose presently from our chairs and walked slowly out toward the door.
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|
The hallway arched over our heads, and through different doors I caught brief
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|
vistas of rooms finished in the same warm, rich quietness that typified the
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|
studio.
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|
"When I talked with you last," I said to her, "we were at the studio.
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|
You were in a magnificent trailing gown of yellow gold, and behind, in
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|
faithful attendance, was a negro maid, carrying your handkerchief and your
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|
make-up materials. I have been anxious ever since to know whether you were
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|
always like that."
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|
Kathlyn Williams laughed.
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|
"Well! You see!" She motioned to her simple white dress. "I suppose I
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|
might have got myself up for the occasion, have appeared in a gorgeous gown
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|
at the head of those stairs there, but I don't like ostentation."
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|
I smiled. I had not meant her dress. I had mentioned that because it
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|
had seemed to be the reason for that fine stateliness. But I knew now. In
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|
simple frock or in evening gown, or in robes of any kind, Kathlyn Williams
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|
could not escape magnificence. It is an innate part of her.
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|
We stood for a while on the drive outside, gazing off at the distant
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|
hills, half lost in the summer haze, or watching her company of pheasants
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|
feeding on the hillside.
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|
"They are very tame," she said. "I go down every evening to feed them.
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They will eat from my hand."
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|
For long minutes we idled there, she sitting on the low coping that
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|
|
lined the steps, I standing before her, with the warm California sun shining
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|
down on us and a pleasant breeze stirring about us. We talked of many
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|
|
things, of her adventures during her course in aviation, of her riding--one
|
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|
|
knows instinctively that she does ride horses--of England and the English, of
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|
the condition of our government, or religion again.
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|
It is impossible to put into words the charm of Kathlyn Williams. It is
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|
|
definite, fine unaffected. One can say little more than that one would like
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|
to talk with her, to walk with her, to know her, as one can only talk and
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|
walk and know a friend.
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|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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|
May 1922
|
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|
PHOTOPLAY
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|
|
The entire film colony of Hollywood has felt the deepest sorrow and
|
|
|
|
depression over the recent death of Kathlyn Williams' son.
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|
The boy was sixteen, a student at the Hollywood High School, and he
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|
passed on during the "flu" epidemic that invaded the west.
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Kathlyn Williams is married to Charles Eyton, manager of the Lasky
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studio.
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The actress was prostrated at her home by the boy's death. He was her
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only child. [The child was from an earlier marriage, to Victor Kainer.]
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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September 1924
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Herbert Howe
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PHOTOPLAY
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[from an interview with Kathlyn Williams]...She avers that the animals
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of those Selig serials absolutely terrified her--and charmed her. When she
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had to ride on elephants she was panic-stricken. That is why she cherishes
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such a profound regard for elephants that she wants to ride them in India.
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She craves adventure. It is probably a Viking heritage, she muses. Her
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father was Norwegian, her mother Welsh. The Nordic blood is dominant in her.
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She is made two expeditions into China. Last year she just missed the
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Chinese bandits by one day when they made their celebrated raid and capture
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of travelers.
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"I was terribly disappointed to have missed them," she observed with an
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airy laugh. "I wanted to go back and say, 'Here I am.'"...
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"There are two things I love in life," says Kathlyn, "work and travel.
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Not travel among the capitals of Europe but among the places untracked by
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civilization.
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"...I crave adventure, and that is not to be found in Hollywood. The
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one thing you are sure to find in Hollywood is disillusionment.
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"I was always looking for the great opportunity. Always, just over the
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hill, I expected to find what I wanted. And always what I found fell short
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of my ambition. Now I haven't ambition--that is, I pretend I haven't. But I
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suppose I still dream on, for I am still fascinated with my work."...
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In serious confession she admits she has but two fears. One alone she
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would name--the fear of living too long.
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"The tragedy is not in death. I shrink from pain but not death. The
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real tragedy of life is in living beyond one's time, beyond the time when
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work and adventure can give zest. Weariness of soul and body, the sense of
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futility, the age when hope flickers low, these constitute the tragedy. It
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is not disappointment in love, failure in business, loss of fortune that
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makes for stark tragedy but tedium, relentless tedium."...
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In her home that reigns on a queenly eminence, commanding a view of the
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purple hills and the valley that sweeps to the sea, we talked of philosophy
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in the comfortable glow of the library. There were books on the table and on
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the shelves.
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"I've grasped at them all, but when I've finished I confess honestly
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that I do not know," observed Miss Williams. "Of course, there is always
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Omar Khayyam for final resort, but his philosophy is really one of despair.
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I reject it."
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Again that gay, whimsical laugh that is characteristic of her. "We are
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getting too serious. It is the twilight."...
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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April 1925
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Tom Mix
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PHOTOPLAY
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[Kathlyn Williams' scalp was once clawed by a leopard. The incident was
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retold many times, with a wide variation in the details. Cowboy star Tom Mix
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was working for Selig at that time, and in 1925 he wrote a highly-fanciful
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series of autobiographical articles, giving this account of the incident:]
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...Right here, before going into some of the adventures that befell us
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in Florida, I'd like to say that Miss Kathlyn Williams was a wonderful woman
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and that it sure was a privilege to work with her. It wasn't only that she
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was a mighty brave woman, but she had a fine disposition, and she was sweet
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and smiling no matter how tough the going might be, and sometimes it was
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pretty bad, for we worked under great difficulties and most of the time lived
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the same way. Making that kind of pictures was a heap different than the
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things they do nowadays and the animals were the chief part of it, too.
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I remember that we had a troup of leopards with us, and their trainer
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allowed that they were tame leopards, but I have seen a lot tamer things in
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my time. We had build a great big corral, or cage of wire, and we worked
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inside that, with all the tropical atmosphere, but still where the animals
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couldn't get away. I had one experience with a leopard down there that was
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like what you read about in books but that is the only time I ever saw it
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happen in real life.
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We wanted to show on the screen, the leopard finding Miss Williams
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asleep under a log and springing on her. And the way we planned to get it
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was like this--Miss Williams laid down on one side of the log, right close to
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it, and on the other side was the leopard. We had a chicken pegged on the
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same side as Miss Williams, and we'd move the chicken and the leopard would
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leap high in the air, right over Miss Williams, and land on the chicken.
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Then we'd cut with him in midair. Then with another leopard trained for the
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part would continue the fight.
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It went great the first time. The second time, just as the leopard
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started to spring, the breeze caught Miss Williams' hair and blew it around.
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It caught his attention and before anyone could move, he had sprung right on
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Miss Williams, one paw putting five deep cuts in her head. She fainted.
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It was so quick no one could realize it. My gun was some five feet
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away, and I was afraid to move for fear the sound would make him strike
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instantly. I was only a few feet from him, and right in front of me was his
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tail. I could see it twitching back and forth, back and forth, like the tail
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of a cat with a mouse.
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As I told you, cats are my natural enemies, and for a second I didn't
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know what I could do, that wouldn't make him kill Miss Williams, or maim her,
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before I could stop him. Then an idea came to me, and I just reached forward
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and with all my strength grabbed that moving tail and swung. He was a big
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leopard, but I just managed to lift him clean, and someone snatched Miss
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Williams.
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He turned on me in a fury, and we stood there looking at each other,
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just staring. Some folks that was watching, thought I was right cool and
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collected on that occasion, but the truth was I was paralyzed with fear,
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though I was trying to figure out if maybe I couldn't get him by the throat
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when he sprang.
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And then, as we stared, that leopard suddenly began to shift, dropped
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his head and his tail, and slunk away into the trees...
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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September 25, 1960
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LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
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Kathlyn Williams, Former Star, Dies
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Silent film star Kathlyn Eyton Williams was found dead Saturday in her
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apartment at 1428 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., West Hollywood.
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She was discovered sitting in the wheel chair to which she had been
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confined since losing a leg in a near fatal auto crash in Death Valley in
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1949. Death was from natural causes.
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...She married producer Charles Eyton at Riverside in 1916. They were
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divorced at Reno in 1931 but remained friends. Each remembered the other in
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their wills and when Eyton died in 1941 Miss Williams inherited 20 per cent
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of his estate, worth $10,000 annually.
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She had lived in her handsome apartment since the early 1930s and was
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known as a gracious hostess who entertained socialites and motion picture
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celebrities frequently.
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The years following her auto crash were dark ones for the vivacious
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actress. Confinement to the wheel chair altered her active way of life and
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she once confessed "I wanted to die when I realized how bad off I was."...
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*****************************************************************************
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*****************************************************************************
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Back issues of Taylorology are available from the gopher server at
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gopher.etext.org
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in the directory Zines/Taylorology;
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or on the Web at
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http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology
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*****************************************************************************
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