Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 176, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1915 — HIS OWN LIFE A MOVIE DRAMA [ARTICLE]

HIS OWN LIFE A MOVIE DRAMA

Rise of Dontld Mackenzie Reads LikeFHm Play BORN AND BRED IN SCOTLAND Poor Boy of the Highlands Now Famed as Screen Director —Many Successes in America far “Gillie’* es Seventeen Years Ago. Some sixteen or seventeen years ago, in one of those sections of the Scottish Highlands so remote that Gaelic is still spoken and the old men still tell legends their fathers told them of "Prince Charlie,” an English nobleman leased several thousand acres of land for the shooting. Arriving at the tiny village on the property which he had leased he sought information as to the best man available for him to hire to accompany him on his shooting trips. The answer he received was the same from each man he asked —"Donald Mackenzie is a guid mon.” The Englishman sought out the popular favorite and found a square jawed, square set young fellow of some seventeen or eighteen yars old, who vowed with quiet confidence that he could give satisfaction. That was the parting of the ways for the Scotch boy. Sprung from godly parents who had taught ihim the best they knew how with the few books at their command he ;knew as well as they that the ambitions which controlled him could find no attractive goal in his native village —that neither wealth nor fame lay for him among the frowning mountains, along the flashing streams or where the heather empurpled the upland pastures. The Englishman took a great interest in the lad. The long days of close companionship on lonely moors brought them together in a way unusual between employer And ' employee, and when the season ended, the young man bade farewell to home and parents, turned his back upon the foggy mountains and accompanied the nobleman to London. There the education of the Scotch boy went on apace. Treated as a friend by his patron he enjoyed all the advantages that good society could give. It was found that he had a splendid bass voice, and he was much in demand at private musicales. One day a prominent theatrical man heard him and offered him an operatic engagement at Daly’s Theatre in London to play the part of Lord Enchester in “The Country Girl.” He accepted and made good in the role, and so was secured by the late Augustin Daly to play the same part In the United States. Engagements with Lulu Glaser in “Dolly Vardon,” the W. T. Carleton Opera Company, “The Mayor of Tokio,” and “The Time, the Place and the Girl” followed. Mr. Mackenzie tells with gusto how he got his first big chance. He made it a rule to understudy every big part to which he was suited, and one night he was playing in “When Johnny Came Marching Home,” when W. T. Carleton, who was playing the general, became seized with heart failure in the biggest scene of all, staggered to the wings and then fell. Quick as a flash our Scotchman shot out of the front, took up the part where it had been left off, and to the amazement of the company finished the act in that part without making a single error. At the close of the act, while the doctors were attending to Mr. Mr. Mackenzie changed to the sick man’s costume and finished the performance as the general. The next day Mr. Carleton showed his gratitude by raising Mr. Mackenzie’s salary and giving him the part. A friendship sprang up between the two which has endured through the years and which was shown by Mr. Mackenzie giving to Mr. Carleton the part of the governor in his fine picture, "The Pardon.” Mr. Mackenzie has been associated with Pathe for over three years as actor and producer. In the “Perils es Pauline” he not only appeared in several episodes as “the pirate” (a part which made a big hit), but he directed the production of many of the episodes himself. Today he is reputed to he making big money by producing pictures which are released through Pathe. His most recent production the fine three-part Pathe drama, “Thi Pardon,” has received flattering reviews and has been booked by the Loew theatres for fifty days solid.