MODERN "STARS"

Shannon News, 18 September 1928, Page 4

MODERN "STARS"

- NO MIDNIGHT SUPPERS

's' Actors and actresses are still quite £v: popularly supposed to be people who s'' ' hate going to bed. The idea persists jjt , that when the play is over they go g- , off to rowdy parties or to furtive night W clubs and there proceed to drink more £- champagne than is good for them, a On the whole, this is fiction. There jp'' are some welHcnown gadabouts of the i', stage, and theatrical parties are not '-"'' uncommon, but the majority of actors ~ . and actresses realise it.is essential that if- they talce care of themselves, and there ;) ore few theatrical parties which a ,'.-,* 'bishop might not attend. j .'- Actresses of the standing of Miss

;'" Edith Day and Miss Evelyn Laye, who V -. are paid about £2150 a week, and whose livelihood depends upon their keeping fresh and fit, are seldom seen at midnight functions. Miss Day has-been in some very long runs and is credited 'with being one of the most, well-to-do of musical comedy stars. That she continues to shine brightly is at least ( ' < partly due to the fast that she does ' ' ' not burn the candle at both ends. \ Leading women of musical comedy """""""have only a certain period of sunshine ■ .in which" to make hay, Miss Lily Elsie ' said, after her recent come-back, that she would never again take a part : ' which called for modern stage dancing.: . There is always a shortage of such stars, and while the salaries they re-P*^.ceive-may seem to be extravagant and the money they earn from gramophone records —it runs into many hundreds -of pounds a month in"certain cases—is very large, the strain on the actresses's physique must be taken ityto business ;' account. ;'.'">, , Besides,.,the demands made on a star's financial'' sympathies are end- :. '■ less. "You would be amazed if you '. •• knew how often I am asked for the 'loan' of £SO or £100," one once said. ' "People who criticise us seem to forget how utterly dependent Ave are upon ~ , freedom from illness and accident," ';"<, an actor told-• a•■ critic the other day. -' j ," If I broke my leg in crossing the / street or became«cut about the face in ''-" a motor accident, it is quite .possible ... that I should be finished for stage. ■• ■ work. In our way we have to live as carefully as do athletes." Scores of actresses —very likely hun- '<"" dreds—have put themselves on the fashionable diet of cutlets and pine- /' apple in .the -cause of bodily slimnerfs. J.'-' There is a revue danger in London \ - who has an hour's Complete massage X every day. <• If one* wants to see M'.ss Y-V Gertrude Laurence, after lunch one hos :.:. to wait until she has got her afternoon "nap" over. ■ ' If you go to supper with Miss Sybil f '. Thorndykc you will find that cocoa is I,or staple midnight drink; if you have 1 a meal with Alice Delysia you will find that she will drink nothing but water or a little red wine. '' Red wine is the beat thing in the world fpr the , " complexion, spirits the worst;'' she £ says. Ginger ale is the only thing you can get Mr. William Morrison to drink when ho has a new production in hand. Practically every morning of his life Mr. Tom Walls is up with the lark and out with his horses. Mr. Joseph Coyne .constantly goes for long walks in the park, Miss Edna Best swims and sits for hours watching cricket. You very seldom see. Mr. Frederick Lonsdale or Mr. Noel Coward at a theatrical party. Yes, the times when actors and actresses' began their day at midnight have changed. If now and then they do have the zest t*> dance till 4 a.m. < ' it is because they are not jaded and are in a physical condition to stand an occasional "night out."