A FIRST APPEARANCE 428 chose painting as a profession, and for a while pursued the study of that art in Europe; but the Stage allured him, and presently, resolving to become an actor, he joined his father's theatrical company in America. His first professional appearance was made in New York, September 18, 1879, at the Park Theatre, then managed by Henry E. Abbey, and he has been on the stage almost continuously ever since. The announcement, however, has been made that the theatrical season of 1915-'16 will be his last; that he and his wife, the beautiful Julia Marlowe, charming as an actress and admired and beloved as a woman, will, after a comprehensive farewell tour, retire from the stage. A FRIGHTENED NOVICE. Sothern's first part was that of A Cabman, in the farce of "Brother Sam," produced by his father. I saw the performance and sympathized with the novice, who was overcome by stage-fright and unable to speak. He remained only a short time in his father's employment. From the New York Park he went to the Bos ton Museum, remaining there about three months. Later he joined John McCullough's dramatic company, and under the wise and kind direction of that great actor he gained valuable experience. In the autumn of 1881 he was in England, where he remained for about eighteen months, performing intermittently in London and the provinces. In 1883 he rejoined McCullough's company in America. The next season found him associated with the English actress Helen Barry, playing Tresham, in a drama called "The Fatal Letter." He then undertook a starring tour, his first venture of that ambitious kind, and produced a farcical play entitled "Whose Are They?" adapted by himself from an English original, in which he acted the chief part, Melchizedek Flighty. In this enterprise he failed. For several years thereafter he performed in association with Helen Dauvray, who managed the New York Lyceum Theatre, then in Fourth Avenue, before that house came into the control of Daniel Frohman. Later he was the leading man at the Lyceum under Daniel Froh VARIETY OF ENTERPRISE 425 man's management, and there he remained for many years, playing various parts and steadily advancing in professional skill and in repute till he became, practically, a star, supported by the Lyceum company. In 1899 he left that theatre, and, setting forth at the head of his own dramatic company, with Miss Virginia Harned, whom he had married, as leading woman, he produced "The King's Musketeer," a new play on the basis of the ever-popular novel "The Three Guardsmen," by Dumas, and personated D'Artagnan. This venture was successful, and from that time onward Sothern's progress was rapid. Within the ensuing year he presented "The Song of the Sword," "The Sunken Bell," and "Drifting Apart," in which he gave a capital personation, as Sir George Bloomfield. On September 17, 1900, at the Garden Theatre, New York, he made the most ambitious and most important effort of his professional life, appearing for the first time as Hamlet. Within the next three years he many times repeated that performance, and he diversified his repertory by producing "Richard Lovelace," "If I Were King," by Justin H. McCarthy; "Markheim," and "The Proud Prince." ALLIANCE WITH JULIA MARLOWE. was In 1904 a professional combination effected, by Charles Frohman, between Sothern and Julia Marlowe, and on September 19 of that year they acted together for the first time, appearing at the Illinois Theatre, Chicago, in "Romeo and Juliet." This alliance continued till June, 1907, after which time, for two years, each of them headed a distinct company; but in 1909 their association was resumed, and on November 8, that year, when the New Theatre, now (1915) called the Century, was opened in New York, they appeared in the central parts of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." Their stay at the New Theatre was brief. Since then they have acted together continuously except when Miss Marlowe has been incapacitated by illness. On April 22, 1907, they appeared at the Waldorf Theatre, London, and there they remained for five weeks. On August 11, 1911, in London, they were married,-Soth |