KYRLE BELLEW DEAD.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13529, 10 November 1911, Page 2

KYRLE BELLEW DEAD.

CELEBRATED ACTOR’S EXIT. NEW YORK, November 5. Kyrle Bellew, the well-known romantic actor, died to-day in Salt Lake City. Utah, after a short illness. Tlie late . Kyrle Bellew, though bestknown to Australasians of the present generation by the plays he produced in recent years with Mrs Brown Potter, started on his dramatic carrer in Australia, He reached Australia in his youth, and became a reporter on'the .Melbourne Herald. For a couple of years he followed journalism successfully, but his heart was never in tile work. He yearned to become an actor, and after considerable study gave a private recital to a number of critics and theatrical men in one of the rooms of the Melbourne Public Library. Among the audience were the late Marcus Clarke, author of “His Natural Life, and the late Dr Neild, then dramatic critic of the Australasian, and afterwards notable as acting-coroner and pathologist. Bellew gave a series of Shakespearian recitations and awaited the verdict. It was unanimous. “Rotten,” said those present, most of whom were personal friends. “Chuck it, my_boy,” said Dr Neild, and the rest were equally definite, convinced that they were acting in Bel- , lew s interest. But the aspiring- actor was not 4o be denied. He continued his studies, and eventually decided upon action. He got a job as assistant purser on a boat bound for England, and, after reaching London, threw himself heart and soul into the work he loved. His early trials were of a particularly heartbreaking character, but eventually he triumphed, and, at the end of ten years, was able to take liis place among t)ie greatest actors in the world. In 1895 he returned to Australia with Mrs Brown Potter aud Miss Yda Hamilton, afterwards the wife of the ill-fated Scott-Inglis, who, with the exception of Oscar Asche, was probably the greatest actor that'■ Australia has yet produced. That season was a remarkable one, both from an artistic and from a financial standpoint. ' So highly did Bellew think of Scott-Inglis that he took him with the company on tour to America, where the Australian subsequently killed himself. A year or two later Bellew broke away from Mrs Brown Potter, and for the past few years had been living in comparative retirement. Probably bis greatest part was that of Scarpia in “La Tosca.”