TheO
'MAHA Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Copyright. 1911, by tha Star Company. Great Britain Rights ReierveO.
at I Tfiinl? of My WiwstyNatGooawin
jm. NATHANIEL Goodwin, one or ino great
P est and best beloved (except by hit wives)
of American acton, has long been promising
to write a book which would set forth his rich store
of stago and matrimonial experiences.
He has written his book, and In It, If ho has
not made perfectly clear Just why beautiful women
marry him, ho has made perfectly clear why ho has
separated from so many of them.
The book Is brilliant, full of faiolnatlng anecdotes
upon the great and lesser folk of the stage with
whom Nat has come In contact with In his decades
of acting. It will bs published during the Fall, and
will no doubt take first rank among stago memoirs.
He mlghtstlll have been a happy and deserving
once-turned' husband, according to his book, had not
ono wlfo died and three divorced htm. To the
sixth wife, who appears In his horoscope, according
to grave astrologers, he gives no present thought.
Ho Is living, three months after his fifth marriage,
on a little Island of content
The, following article, taken from the manuscript
sheets of the book, Is printed by tha courtesy of
Mr. Goodwin himself. Here Is how the flve-wlved
fascinator bares his soul and airs the troubles of a
five-ply husband In tha book Ml Wonder."
1HAVE been censured, sometimes
harshly, for my versatility la
the choice of "Wives, and many
havo marvelled at my fortunate or
unfortunate selections. I havo al-
Trays been long on tho market of
home and wives.
I truly believe that no home la
complete without a wife, providing
sho is of tho kind that enjoys tho
company of honest and intelligent
people. Bomo men only lease their
mates and then prate about respect
ability. If ! have decided at differ
ent times to tear down any of tho
Epheslan domes which I havo
erected, is the fact of, my destroy
ing them enough to warrant my
By Nat Goodwin
In His Forthcoming Book of Memoirs.
toeing known, as was Alexander, aa
the fool that razod (or was It raised)
them?
Tho three saddest events In my
life wore the burial of my son, tho
child of myself and tho former Mrs.
Nellie Bakor Pease; tho death of
my wife, Eliza Weathorsby, And in
specting Her Majesty's Theatre, Lon
don, with Sir Henry Irving, undor
the guidance of Doerbohin Tree,
then tho lessee and manager.
Tho throo happiest ovonts wero
tho birth of my son, tho presentation
of a loving cup to mo by tho Lambs
Club, and my first night's perform
ance of Qhylock In 'The Merchant of
Venice "
Eliza Wcathorsby was one of the-
No. 1 "Like a Mother," Mo. 2 an "Obligation,"
Maxine Elliott a "Roman Senator," Edna
Goodrich an "Error" Mo. 5 His "Life
Preserver" says America's
Champion Husband
loveliest women I ever saw, and
without doubt the most amiable and
capable of tho deepest devotion. A
superb artist she entorod burlesque
to the surprise of all who knew her
and to the deep regret of many.
The roasons for her entry Into tho
burlesque field was that the salary
offered enablod her to support hoi
widowed mother and flvo sisters,
who wero left in want by tho death
of their father. Every wook, after
our marriage, a certain sum was
sent across the ocean out of our
Joint salarios to tho widow and or
phans loft in London, and, ono by
one,- each succeeding year ono of
the flvo Bisters would come over to
Join our happy family.
I was only a stripling when I
mnrrlod this beautiful creature.
Moreover, I was unreliable and, I
confoss, unapprociativo of what the
fates had been bo kind
as to bestow upon me.
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pod aa tho husband, Pease, or per
haps on some coral reef whero
Bponges predominate. Ho proved
a most absorbing person. I wired
him onco to spend a few days in
New York. Ho wired mo that he
was coming for a cup of tea and
stopped two years.
I noticed during my visits to her
house that she bestowed no love
nor oven respect upon that dilettante
husband. I promised her to asBlst
hefTo meet Mackayo, and after bind
ing myself with this obligation I
took my departure.
I met her afterwards in Boston,
where sho told me she was suing for
a divorce, and in a few days I was
served with papers from tho hus
band, who charged mo with alionat
' ing his wife's affections. When tho
summons came sho took it as a Joke,
saying, "What a great relief from a
little incubus." I fallen to see tho
Joke and suggested that she furnish
mo. It was I who began the suit. .
I was very much embarrassed dur
ing the trial when the Judge asked
me to give him the name of my wife
before I married her. I told him I
thought it was Hall. He said:
"Think? Don't you know?" I said,
That's tho name of her brother,
who had previously played under
my management. When tho papers
wero returned from her attorneys
she gave her maiden name as Mc
Dermott I said, "That's tho name
of her cx-husonnd." "Wo afterwards
discovered that her name was Mc
Dermott and that sho had married a
man of tho same name. Henco
rxose the awkward situation."
(Ho gives to Edna Goodrich but a
few lines. Indeed Number Four
narrowly escapes the oblivion of si
lent contempt so far aa her former
husband is concerned.) '
My marriage to her was one of
tho great errors of my career. I
realized wo woro mlsmated. I had
K"
some solution for escape from this
"There is an expressive verb 'to pan' its meaning it 'to roast.' 'to criti
dze.' 'They've always handed it to me says Nat 'But even an ex
husband will turn. It's quite a "pan" for his ex-wives, this book of Nat's.
Maxine Elliott, Wife No. 3, Whom Nat Calls
ll9 Roman aaaator.
Edna Goodrich, Wife No. 4, Whom He Calls His "Error,
nd Who Cost Him Half a Million.
Many have accused me of wan
ton neglect. I may havo neg
lected her, but only for tho com
panionship of men. She never com
plained, and during the ten years of
.our happy married life there was
never one discordant note. She was
ten years my senior and treated mo
more like a son than a husband, but,
like the truant boy who runs away
from school now and then, I was al
ways glad to return and seek tho
forgiveness that an indulgent mother
always gives a wayward child. Our
own bouse near Boston was a little
paradise. A loving sister, a dutiful
daughter, a loving wife, she Is rest
ing In Woodlawn and the daisies
grow over her grave.
There was a brief matrimonial
hiatus. Of the resumption of his
marriages he Bays:
About this time I began to weary
of the solttudo of single lite. Liv
ing with dear old John Mason, in
our flat on Twenty-eighth street, life
became to me a burden. We wero
very respectable persons, John and
I, at that time and led a most
exemplary life.
It was during these disconsolate
hours that I became IntorertoU in a
Mrs. Nellie Baker Pease, wife of a
dilettante living in Buffalo. She,
was desirous of entering my pro
fession, and asked me if I would in
troduce her; to Mr. Steele Mackaye,
who was teaching the Delsarto sys
tem in New York. During my
week's sojurniu Buffalo I was In
troduced to her mother, sister,
brother and husband. Tho brothor
must have emanated from the same
Most embarrassing situation,
realized the publicity and scandal
that must surely come. She had met
my.-mothor and father In tho mean
time and they woro greatly upsot
about tho matter. I realized tho
publicity and scandal that must
surely come. A put the question di
rectly to her: "What shall I do?"
Sho said: 'It is very simple. Go to
Buffalo. Buy them off. Come back
to Boston and marry me. Your
mother has bocomo Quite fond of me,
likewise your dad. I am passion
ately fond of art I think you are
the most charming of men, and I
know I can make you superlatively
happy." I fell for this. What else
could a true born American do?
It was at a banquet given by Mr.
Tim Frawiey, in San Kranclsco, I
first mot the Juno-like Maxine
Elliott, one of tho most beautiful
women then I had evor seen. Her
raven-black hair and eyes in delight
ful contrast to the red hues that
formed an auroole, as it were, above
her head wore wonderful. There
she sat, totally unconscious of the
appetites she was destroying, ab
sorbing tho dolicato little compli
ments paid her by that prince of
good fellows, John Drew. Serene
and superior oho reminded me then,
as many times she has since, of a
Roman Senator and upon her I after
ward bestowed that sobriquet
During my marriage to Maxine
Elliott she purchased a house on
Duke street, London, without my
knowledge. I had previously placed
my furniture in a storehouse to
gether with tho contents of my wine
cellar, which she quietly confiscated.
I did not mind the furniture so
much, hut to tickle tho palates of
her English friends with my expen
sive St Emllions and Veuve Cliquot
was rude, to say the least Besides
I was never invited to her Duke
strcot house. After I hud tried so
hard to entertain her at Jackwood,
my English home, I think hor con
duct was most discourteous.
A great many people have the
idea that Maxine Elliott dlvorcod
fallen In love with her while trying
to save her from a scoundrel. My
zeal outran my discretion. Her
mother was a Jarring chord. In
short tho avenues of our lives did
not run parallol and the milieu she
created in our homo became one of
trying ordeals rather than domestic
felicity. Sho was marvelously beau
tiful so they tell mo. But to quote
from James Whitcomb Riley, "Pretty
Is what pretty does.' "
(After his third divorce drama, in,
which sho played the heroine, Miss
Goodrich had little to say of him,
only: "When a man Is" fat and paBt
fifty he would bettor Btop his pur
suit of romance," and, when in Bofter
mood: "It is a great pity. He was
once such a fine actor. What a
waste of life!")
In May, 1913, I again startled the
world by marrying Margaret More
land, and set the buzzards and the
gossips to wagglqg their ears
Nature query: Does a buzzard wag
its ears? and lashing their tongues
In spasms of spleen. Irrespective
of my love for tho lady, hr devo
tion to me during my late illness
was worthy a crown of rubles. I
only wish I possessed one to place
upon her brow. She saved my lite
and I owe it to her. The trouble
has been that I have always admired
beauties and they have handed it
to me.
I have constantly referred to fato
while writing my book, taking my
cue from Homer, but had I known
he simply used the word fate to
save time, and since my course
through life was directed by "fates"
rather than fate, I should not have
marvelled at my many disappoint
ments In the matrimonial field.
With those "Three Little Maids from
School" Clotho, Lachesls and Atrc
poa leading me through life with
their ullken threads through my
nose, allowing me to go and tueu
reeling me back again, as one toys
with a game fish, I have felt like
giving up the game long ago.
Young ladles, you certainly have
made It very warm for me.
Margaret Moreland, Wife No. 5, the Latest Mrs,-Goodwin'