our day Roosevelt and
others shine.

"Far from fostering it, the star system as such has simply meant for me
that when one of my stars finishes with a play, that play goes
permanently on the shelf, no one ever hoping to muster together an
audience for it without the original actor or actress in the star part.

"Vital acting in plays of consequence is the foundation of theatrical
success. You have only to enumerate the plays to realize the drain even
one management can make upon what is, after all, a limited supply of
capable leading actors. This is because the American stage is short of
leaders. There is a world of actors, but too few leading actors."

"What do you mean by leading actor?" he was asked.

"I mean that if in casting a play you can find an actor who looks the
part you have in mind for him, be thankful; if you can find an actor who
can act the part, be very thankful; and if you can find an actor who can
look and act the part, _get down on your knees and thank God!_"

Frohman had a very definite idea about star material. He was once
talking with a well-known American publisher who mentioned that a
certain very rich woman had announced her determination to go on the
stage. The manager made one of his quick and impatient gestures, and
said:

"She will never do."

"Why?" asked his friend.

"Because," replied Frohman, "in all my experience with the making of
stars I have seldom known of a very rich girl who made a finished
success on the stage. The reason is that the daughters of the rich are
taught to repress their emotions. In other words, they don't seem to be
able to let go their feelings. Give me the common clay, the kind that
has suffered and even hungered. It makes the best star material."

There is no doubt that Frohman liked to "make" careers. He wanted to
see people develop under his direction. To indulge in this diversion was
often a very costly thing, as this incident shows:

Chauncey Olcott, who had been associated with him in his minstrel days,
and become one of the most profitable stars in the country, once sent a
message to Frohman saying that he would like to come under his
management. To the intermediary Olcott said:

"Tell Mr. Frohman that I make one hundred thousand dollars a year. He
can name his own percentage of this income."

Frohman sent back this message:

"I greatly appreciate the offer, but I don't care to manage Olcott. He
is _made_. I like to _make_ stars."

One rea