State

Morch 21, 1936 THE STATE Роде Three Making Good on Broadway Sheppcrd Slrudwiek. Jr., native of Hillsboro, is оме of the most talented yountf actors on Broad¬ way and is now appearing in a comedy hit for Theatre Guild. B;/ J. It. COVINGTON engage. I w :i » alitor of I hr school pa per. ‘The Meteor'. and wasn't al¬ lowed to take part in dramat¬ ics. But I won a declamation con¬ test and road a lot of p 1 a у s, such as ‘Rain’ and ‘Candida’. “I entered Carolina in the fall of 1925. A friend "If I were not on the stage,” says Mr. Strudwick, “I would rather live in North Carolina than anywhere on earth.” JkT t h e age of 28, S h о p p c r <1 /V Strudwick. Jr., of Hillsboro is ^Aonr of the best known and most talented young leading men on the Now York stage. Пе is the «<>n of Mr. and Mrs. Strudwick of Hillsboro. Two brothers. Clement and Edward, also live in Hillsboro and are well known in artistic circles. Unusual talent and eight years of unusually hard work have brought Sheppcrd Strudwick well along the road to dramatic stardom. After his performance in “Both Your Houses" in 1933. his first important role on Broadway, the critic of the New York Herald Tribune said of him, . . . he wades into the role with such con¬ fidence, such burning earnestness, that he is frequently quite eloquent . . . he has character, poise, good address, and stage sense.” Of his work in his present role in “End of Summer,” the New York Times says, “Sheppcrd Strudwick acts the part of the tor¬ mented young man with all the pride and sincerity he always represents on the stage.” A few days ago, I talked to Mr. Strudwick in his dressing room at the Guild Theatre. He was applying make-up for an afternoon performance of "End of Summer.” His welcome was cordial and he discussed his ex¬ periences on the stage from a Tar Heel standpoint. He Started Early “When did you first become inter¬ ested in the stage?” I asked. “At prep school; Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg. I didn’t be¬ long to the dramatic club because there were restrictions on the number of activities in which one student could of mine was with the Playmakers and was anxious for ine to enter the try¬ outs. I did and won the role of Pierrot in a fall production. I became intense¬ ly interested in dramatics and worked with the Playmakers during ray entire stay at Chapel Hill. After graduating I decided to try the professional stage." The records show that Strud wick's interest in the Piny makers at Chapel Hill did not keep him from making an enviable scholastic record. After two summer nnd three winter sessions, he graduated in August 1923. He was a member of Л.К.К., Ф.В.К., Gorgon's Head, and Golden Fleece. He has the distinction of being the first man elected to Golden Fleece on the basis of outstanding achievements in dra¬ matics. North with the Playmakers Strudwick bad boon to Now York several times before ho came to start his professional career in 1928. In 1926 he had l>ecn ono of the company of Playmakers which won acclaim for performances at Columbia University. He bad played on Broadway with the Playmakers, taking lending roles in "The Romancers" and Shakespeare’s “Tho Tempest.” But he had never seen a professional Now York perform¬ ance; he had been too busy with his own performance*. “I was determined to go on the stage hut knew that I had to start at the bottom. I went to work os office boy for Mr. nnd Mrs. Charles Coburn at live dollars per week. In Novem¬ ber 1028, they produced a revival of the Chinese fantasy, ‘The Yellow Jack¬ et’. I finally secured the jobs of assis¬ tant property man. assistant stage manager, and understudy to the juve¬ nile lead. Alexander Kirkland, in tho part of Wu Hoo Git. One month after the play opened, Kirkland left the cast and I took over the role, playing Wu Hoo Git. “That was my first break. I knew that I needed experience, so I joined a stock company and toured the coun¬ try for five years. During part of this time I was with The Jitney Players and I like to remember that I booked them South for tho first time. Our tour included Chapel Hill and now it is a regular stop on the Jitney tours. “My biggest break came in the fall (Continued on page twenty-two)