Word: actor
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Dates: during 1890-1899
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...What effect does an academic training have on a person who wishes to become an actor...
...discard art you are sure to fail. Many geniuses have been forgotten because they have failed to observe art. Genius produces, art reproduces. In acting reproduction is the most important. Night after night a part must be played and give the same effect every time. If the actor grows weary, he produces a weary audience. Mr. Macready, the famous actor, once said to Mrs. Warner that one of his great speeches, which used to make a great hit, fell flat. Was it an old story with the audience? The character has been detected...
...pass to tragedy and comedy. There is in England a picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds of Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy. One day Garrick was asked which he considered the most difficult. "Oh, sir," replied the actor, "whether I am well or ill, in high spirits or low, I am always equal to tragedy, but comedy is a serious business." He meant that comedy requires an amount of earnestness and depth that is not usually given to it. An actor, while thoroughly appreciating it must always take a joke seriously, otherwise the humor is lost. Dogberry, for example, when...
...other day an old gentleman asked me if I did not think the starring system most pernicious, I replied that when I was a stock actor I looked upon every star as a tyrant, and when I became a star I looked upon every stock actor as a conspirator. Shakespeare invented the starring system. Hamlet, Shylock, Macbeth, Coriolanus are all stars. These plays also were written to illustrate human passions; Othello, jealousy; Macbeth, fate; Coriolanus, the autocrat; Merchant of Venice, revenge...
Many young actors fail without understanding why. They complain that they play their best roles and no one comes. The fault is not with the roles, but with themselves. The tones of the actor's voice and his manner must convey to the audience a clear understanding of the lines...