' about.

" guecessful as a seagull-or a’
».., fish.’ This from a man who

7 ‘won three Pulitzer Prizes...

“Me and a Nobel. Prize for :

After one of the greatest
American dramatists,
Eugene O’Neill, died in’ his
Boston apartment of
bronchial pneumonia in 1953
at the age of 65, a few U.S.
newspapers carried articles
about him, there was the
odd broadcast tribute and
one midnight the Actors”
Studio ‘held a memorial
meeting. It was Canadians
who recognized in the
conspicuous way that a
giant had departed, when
the CBC broadcast a two-
and-a-half hour presentation
of scenes from his dramas,
starring Karl Malden, who
is currently featured in the
TV series “The Streets of
San Francisco”. Production
was by the late Rupert
Caplan, who had acted

' ynder O’Neill’s direction

with the Provincetown
Players on Cape Cod. That
program had wide rever-
berations. O’Neill’s widow
began to be pestered for
production rights to his
plays, some of. which were
unpublished and = un-

by JUNE GRAHAM

year-old Irishman, Major

Con Melody, who had fought
with Wellington, and had

come to America. with his:
slatternly wife, Nora, whose
-brogue embarrasses. him

because he likes to. think of
himself as a polished gent,
which he’s not. His young
daughter, Sara, loves him

but knows him for what he’

is. The main plot revolves
around his efforts to in-
terfere in her romance with

a poetic young man of a
better background, who is

lying ill in the tavern, and
e eventual unmasking of

Melody's baser self. Chris

Wiggins is head as Con

Melody, Lynne Gorman as.

his wife, and Maureen
Fitzgerald as Sara. Others

featured in the cast are Sean -

Mulcahy, Aileen Seaton,
Dan . MacDonald, -and
Claude  Rae.-

In “A Long Day’s Journey |

Into: Night’? O'Neill made
the hero (himself) say “It
was a

being born a man. I would

have been much more

‘Princeton

great mistaze, TY tracted T.B., and while in

.- ‘Literature. But he. saw

achievement as a stale;
finale. His pessimism was:

_ based on a life that reads —

like a pot-boiler. melodrama.

‘His tragic characters are

brilliant because he had
lived their experiences, no
matter how bizarre. |

O’Neill's father was: an
unstable, stingy actor. His

mother was -addicted to -

morphine. His elder. brother
was a lush. When O'Neill
was 18 he. asked: to leave .
University
because his wild flings were
more important to him than
his studies. He married, had —
a son, then dumped his
family for an unsuccessful

ENTERTAINMENT, THE HERALD, Wid. July 14, 1976, 11

plays. He married again,'
end went back to drivin

with. his brother. They'd.

take their ‘liquor neat at

night and in milk shakes in

the morning. Then his plays
began to be produced and
along with international

honors he earned, over a
million dollars. Finally he
was able to give up drinking |

entirely. But that wasn’t the
end of his troubles. The
powerful. themes and

sometimes crude. language |

of his plays get him into
difficultiés with police and

censors, and .made him:
many enemies. Tragedy. —
‘continued to. pursue him, —

One of his sons committed

suicide, the other became. an .

aimless drifter. O’Neill’s
health broke down again in
1940. The tremors of

. until his dea

Parkinson’s disease ~~
prevented his holding a pen rr
to write and he lost control.

‘of his voice, as well. Buthe

suffered his illness with |
gentle courage for 13 years,

til “Out of all the .
misery of his strange life -
came. great. theatre,
breaking through’ -. a ~ °
smothering hedge of con-. |
vention to get at the truth of -.
man’s relationship — not -
with man, which .O’Neill .

found boring, but: what) he

felt was far more interesting
—_ with ; God. _ : eee

sence, ee
. Walk a block.Today. | a

prospecting sortie in
Honduras. Then he began
dividing his time between
long sailing trips to South

. America, South Africa and]
_ Britain, with drunken bouts

lasting for up to six months
in the Sailors’ Opera in
Buenos Aires, where the
attractions were cards, beer

-and girls downstairs and|-

pornographic movies up-

stairs, and stays in a New ]-

York waterfront dive called
Jimmy the Priest's, where

he rented a room for $3 a]
‘month and shared it with
- whole armies of vermin.

. When O'Neill’ had had
enough drifting, he con-

and Salt Water
cLicences.

Inquiries Welcome.

a

JIM'S TACKLE SHOP

Rod & Reél Repairs —‘Custoni Rods — Fresh. |
Fishing. Tackle — Fishing |.

168 Hwy. 16 East Terrace, B.C. uu

ALSO now selling Local Handicrafts — All | ~

hospital began to write.

produced at the time of his

death, among them his . BEFTLE BAILEY _

autobiographical ‘‘A Long

Day’s Journey Into Night”. -

One of O’Neill’s last wishes:
had been ‘that it. not. be:
produced until 25 years after.

is death. When’ Mrs.
O’Neill’s resistance finally
broke down, she awarded.
exclusive Canadian rights to
Caplan, ‘and the- CBC
presented its radio premiere
in 1959, eo
Now, as one of its many
happy birthday -greetings

during the -U.S. Bicen- ..

. tennial, |
presenting. O’Neill’s last: .
play, A Touch of the Poet, as |
a two-hour special on |

the CBC is.

Sunday, July 4th, at. 8:03
p.m. edt, 9:03 adt, 9:33 nat.
7:03 cdt, 6:03 mat, 5:03 pdt.
The radio adaptation is by

John Bethune, and music is.
composed and conducted by .

Lucio Agostini. Production

is by Peter Donkin who tells -
me he feels that ‘‘O’Neill ©
was embarking on a.cycle of

plays with this one, but diedi
before he got any further.’
He was a wonderful craft-
sman. “A Touch of the

Poet’’ is an important play -

which works even better for

radio than it:does on the ~
istage. It says things that.
will scorch you. O'Neill .

presents us with a group of

. Irish immigrants to..New

England in 1928, and 1

- assume. he ‘would “have

followed through with plays
succee
generations. These

heightened family emotion,

so. their reactions. are.

strained. Sometimes they -
~ say terrible things. ...Itwas

a joy to produce “A Touch of ...

‘the Poet’’, to. discover once,

again ‘that it’s all in the’ |

lines.”

-.. The aetion “of the play . E
-. covers.a single day. The
> seene is “a ‘ramshackle:..

bo,
“oe sy

rn

WE'RE GETTING
‘ALOT OF NEW
ZECRUITS LATELY

foe THE
ECONOMY -

ALOTOF |
YOUNG PEOPLE
CAN'T FING.
WORK. PRICES |
ARE HIGH, -
THEY'RE

{ THAT |
‘EXPLAINS

fo) Hy

IT.

. Se
© ng Famturen Syrccata, ne., 1975, Word rants reserved,

Nee? ,
a BER ar
RS theg = = Deere

I WONDERED WHY ||:
THEY'RE ALL SHOWING.
py UP IN PATCHED
GA, BLUE JEANS

af
pe sd
5

ing |!
l eople: _
are constantly upbraiding or .
teasing, in an atmosphere of '

ss BY BOB MONTANA

WOW f THE PRICE
OF GAS SURE HAS
CRAMPED MY STYLE 7

cee

YEAH f

I GIVE YOU RIGHT / WELL,S/LONG, ARCH! }. i |
CREDIT, JUG /; 1 0, SEEYA 2° ai
PYOU'STILL GET MAN MUST TTTTTA ) abe
- AROUND.’ / ADAPT 10 HIS 13 abe
“CENVIRONMENT— nid,» Ay.
“SOCIALLY, di
‘ECONOMICALLY, ; Lt By
. ETC--- sane beg
PT,

at Ate ot
vate So A

1 ee

BY DEAN TOUNG AND JIM RAYMDND

BLONDIE

village tavern ran:by a 45-0

WC a LoT BETTER.
THAN YESTERDAY -

“eause were Mr]: -

“BY WORT WAMNED