Charles Clary’s Villainous Ways (1919) 🇬🇧
The man who sighs to be a hero, but the producer won’t let him.
Charles Clary, just over six feet in height and handsome, with a winning smile, that never, alas, shows itself upon the screen, has an ambition. This popular player, protests at always being cast in “heavy” or villainous parts, and his great desire is to play straight leads, providing they are not of the namby-pamby order.
But it is the way of the world, once a villain, always a villain, and the producer never gives Charles an opportunity to play “good” parts on the screen.
Charles Clary first appeared in pictures with the Selig Company, and he played in a long serial [The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913)] with Kathlyn Williams. Other notable pictures of his were Each Pearl a Tear, with Fanny Ward, and Joan the Woman, in support of Geraldine Farrar.
The Part He Would Like To Play.
On the stage he acted with great success with some well-known dramatic stars. He played in New York with Mary Mannering, and in The Road to Yesterday. Clary has the distinction of appearing in the first five-reel picture ever made in the United States.
His idea of the part he would most like to play is that of “a humanitarian, above petty meanness, and who would make sacrifices for a woman’s sake.” These sentiments disprove the oft-repeated rumour that Charles is a woman-hater.
When questioned on this subject once, he frankly admitted “that while he did not love any woman but his mother, he certainly did not hate the fairer sex.” He also added the somewhat cryptic remark that he considered women were capable of fair play.
His Hobbies Are Business.
Clary’s only hobbies are minerals and mines. “I’ve dabbled for about three years in both,” he said, “and I have not lost any money, so I think I am on the right track. I’m interested in two in Arizona and one in Mexico, and by the time I retire from the screen, I hope Mother Earth will open her pockets, and give me enough loose change to keep me comfortable in my old age.”
One of the many admirers of Charles Clary once sent him a copy of a French history book, with the following quotation underlined in red ink.
“In Marseilles lived Jacques Clary, a silk merchant, very wealthy, who had two beautiful daughters.” In her letter she said, “I always knew your heart and your descent were in the right place. I’m French, too!”
A Wealthy Ancestor.
A minute investigation of Charlie’s family tree revealed the fact that he had no records before the fifteenth century. The Clary referred to in the book lived in the thirteenth, therefore it was impossible for Charles to discover the exact relationship with the father and his two beautiful daughters.
“But that doesn’t worry me a great deal,” he says. “I only wonder what happened to his wealth. If I’m descended from him, I certainly haven’t had my share.”
If you judge Charles by the parts he plays, you are likely to get quite a wrong impression of him. He is in real life particularly good-natured, a pleasant talker, with a whimsical smile, and, so I am told, a very attractive way of drawing the eyebrows to a centre point.
Why He is Not Interviewed.
Clary, unlike most film people, does not crave to live in the country — he is perfectly content to live in a fashionable hotel in the city.
He has a reputation for being always faultlessly attired, and enjoys nothing so much as a quiet walk by himself. It is recorded, too, that he has occasionally been seen riding in an ordinary tramcar with no thought about his fellow travellers, and only a novel for a companion.
When no was questioned once for the reason why interviews with him do not appear in the papers very often, he replied with a smile, “Nobody wants to read about villains, so the reporters steer clear of me. Now, if I were a hero or a juvenile lead, the case might be different.”
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Photo captions:
- The Dignified Villain.
- Scheming and Deliberate.
- A Heart Full of Hatred.
- Remorse and Repentance.
- A Bold, Bad Ruffian.
Collection: Picture Show Magazine, August 1919