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Forms to be Filled out for Eacn Interview
FOR
Circumstances of Interview
SIAM. Jew York
NAE OF vOliFEU Terry Roth
ADUTSS 47 West 69th Street, N.Y.C.
DATE February 15„ 1939
SnJECT Folklore of Stage People
1. Date and time c' interview February 14, 1939
11 AA. 4 P.X.
2. Place of in Vaudeville Unit
3. Name and address of informant Not to be mentioned.
4. Name and address of person, if any, wno put you in
touch with informant. George Nagle
Above address
3. Name and address of person. If any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundins, etc.
Usual dismal loft and decorations
found on all LP.A. premises.
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
STATE
N'AE OF WORXEP
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
FOPNI C
Text of Interview 1:nediT,ed)
New York
Terry Roth
47 West 69th Street, N.Y.C.
February 15, 1939
Folklore of State P4ople
FOLKLOBF
NE" YORh
wLookit him, how sore he is. Is he burned up, up there. You
know why? Well someone sent him a valentine this mawning. Of a
real ham, just like he is. With spats on, and his fancy vest, smokily,
a bit: cigar, and I bet it don't smell good neither. And with a clan°.
And under the pioshur, it says under it: If you cot on Broadway today
you'd have plenty of eggs to go with this Ham. Josses' Is he burned
up about it."
When you ust me to think back, I don like to do that. It makes
me too With you writers, honey, most of you are young, you didtnt
have all the money and glory we had. but I guess they can't ke it
away from me. I had everything. I was a beautiful kid in the Follies,
and then I had the love of a uonderful husband, Schenck. You know
Van and Schenok. Ahlma great student of the Bibles honey, just a good
student of the Bible. It's the only thing I read. I always say there's
no better readinc than the Bible. It keps me just as I am. We owe
everything to somebody ant_ don't kid yourself, there's a supreme Bein'.
When God has taken everything from you, my mother, my husband, there's
little love left that brings you closer to Him than before.
.2
Would you believe it, honey, but my real hobby is cookin' and
house work. I ,really mean it. Just put me in an apartment with
all the furniture shoved to one side. And I kin be so happy just
movinl it around and fixing up. I keep house with my sister, honey,
and she always sets when she comes home she never knows where the
piano is. Ahearn always re-decoratinl. You know, honey, I usta be
a dancer, a ballroom dancer. And when I was in the Follies, Fanny
Brice had a hobby, She usta rake all our clothes. Yes, honey, she'd
go out and get the material and work it out on us between the shows
and in the evening the dress was ready. Honey, that wuz her pastime.
And W.C. Fields usta drive us orazy, playing with one string on an
old cigar box. That wuz when he wasn't playint Badminton. The
reason I like housewoik is I think it's an outlet, honey, for nerves.
It brings my mind in harmony with the spirit and that's the only
outlet. And when I'm (loin' housework it't like bending and stretchinl
in rehearsal.
Doin' nothint is ad for pecple. Like today. We're makin' up
time for yesterday. Sure. We gotta sit in here all day long, doinl
nothing. I can't do anything 'cause my (lanai& partner, he gotta
Pink Slip. So today they tell me, cook I'll have another ?artner.
It's a oryinl shame the way the people won't let you live. Now you
take actors, They're a funny lot. They always wuz interested in
themselves only. Did they ever want to be interested in a union or
something to keep them together? Now, down,here, everybody is in-
terested in the union. The depression DID teach us somethin' honey.
That is, that we gotta fight hard to keep alive. You know, dearie,
$22.77 is little enough. Thank God I gotta few friends, they make
a little moreln they need. So I get some clothes from them. I
support my sister, and we both love shows, honey, but we can't
*3.
to go to them. Sometimes I oame home and say to her, let's see a
movie, ea we go on Saturday afternoon, when it's 20 cents. But it
ain't the same like in the evening, with the kids screemin, all over
the plaoe. And when you come out in the sunshine, it don't seem
right to be inside durinl the day. So I don't go a lot. Lots of
times we get two packs of cigarettes for a quarter, and sit home
listenini to the radio, and that's good entertainment.
Lookit, how do you like these colors. It's for my afghan.
It's gonna have all different colors, like this one. See. I use
the pink on the outside and next to it the green and there's blue and
orange here. Ahlm rippinl this all out. I don't like that yellow
and red next to each other, what do you think, honey? Don't you
think it'll be nice to cover yourself up when you're restinl. The
wool sheds a little, but it's no worse than havinl a dog around.
That's another thing I love. Dogs. I always have them. Now I
have the most adorable terrier, but I had a very hg English sheep
dog. You know, honey, he was so ugly he was beautiful, and when
I walked on the street, wh;T, dearie the people got outta their cars
and come up to look at him. He died from a germ when he was nine
years old. You know, he weighed 95 pounds. When I first got him,
py husband was alive and we had a mansion out in Hollywood and that
dog had acres to play in. The when everything went mash, honey, I
took him back to New York with me and all my friends said what a
shame to keep that big dog in a tiny apartment. So I had some friends
in the country in Jersey and I took him out there and left him. Well,
honey, when I came out to see him he just looked at me so sad, as if
to say, "don't you ever leave mm again." So I brought him back with
me. You just gotta be with rem. They don't care how you live; they'd
rather be with you in a furnished room than without you in a mansion.
No kiddinl.
Here I am just talkint on. I don't even know what you want me
to telly's. But if it's about goinl back in the past, I'll be truth-
ful with you. I don't like to do that. There's nothin' in it but
heartaches. I had what most people never even dram of havin". Now,
all I want to do is kuep on my feet.
The projeat could be wonderful for all of us here, even with the
little salary, if only you would keep busy all the time. But, honey,
they're always stopping you for some reasoni You never know how long
you're gonna work, or if you play Friday night. It ain't that the
public don't want to see us. 'Cause when I wuz with the Caravan I usta
love to look out in the audiences. And the kids had shining faces.
Same of them never seen a show before. But something always interfers.
It's the government being afraid to hurt the private businesses. Well,
what mould happen to all these variety performers if the Government
didn't hire them. The theatres don't want vaudeville back. You see
what it is, honey? Why should they have to worry about stage hands,
and eleotrioians and publicity agents and scenery and handlers. They
.,et it all manufactured in cans, like soup, and the audience is satis-
fied enough with what they cet. But, if we could really operate every
night, and MARGE admission, why, honey, I bet there would be enough
money camint 1),,ok to us to keep this thing goinl.