XXII
"POOR YORICK" [Footnote: Courtesy of _Lippincott's Magazine_. Copyright,
1892, by J.B. Lippincott Company.]
The name by which he was indicated on the playbills was Overfield. His real
name was buried in the far past. By several members of the company to which
he belonged he was often called "Poor Yorick."
I asked the leading juvenile of the company--young Bridges, who was
supposed to attract women to the theatre, and for whose glorification "The
Lady of Lyons" was sometimes revived at matinees--how the old man had
acquired the nickname.
"I gave it to him myself last season," replied Bridges, loftily. "Can't
you guess why? You remember the graveyard scene in 'Hamlet.' The skull of
Yorick, you know, had lain in the earth three and twenty years. Yorick had
been dead that long. Well, the old man had been dead for about the same
length of time,--professionally dead, I mean. See?"
It was true that, so far as being known by the world went, the old man
was as good, or as bad, as dead. He no longer played other than quite
unimportant parts.
It was said by some one that he was the poorest actor and the noblest
man in the country; a statement commended by Jennison, an Englishman who
usually played villains, to this, that his were the worst art and best
heart in the profession.
Pages:
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223