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| Miami Tribune, 07-February-1925 |
I can't find anything about columnist Douglas de Y Silver. It looks as if the Bell Syndicate had different people write the column.
FLOWERS FOR THE LIVING
By Douglas de Y Silver
(Copyright, 1925, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
Larry Semon is the man who put the custard pie on the map. Since then it has been on the maps of a great many comedians; but to Larry goes the credit for the adoption of the custard pie as the motion picture symbol of hilarity.
Aside from his pie exploits Larry merits almost every kind of nice verbal bouquet you can think of for his meteoric swoop to fame from the hidden recesses of a job as political cartoonist on a newspaper. How Larry got that job is a story that is worth telling.
He had been working on a Philadelphia paper and suddenly decided that he was going to New York and be a big town guy. So he came to New York in the dead of winter and after leaving the station approached the first newsboy he saw and asked him his way to the nearest newspaper office. The newsy directed him to the New York Evening Telegram and on his way up there Larry bought a "Telly," scanned its pages and found that they needed a good cartoonist.
He told the editor as much and after seeing a sample of his work the editor gave him a job drawing a comic strip for the magnificent sum of $35 per week. This is undoubtedly a world's record for getting a job on a New York paper -- Larry figures that 20 minutes after he stepped off the train negotiations had been completed for his work with the Telegram.
After doing his comic strip for a while he was shifted to the political department and there occupied his time drawing pictures of such local dignitaries as Mayor Gaynor, Charles F Murphy and Charles Evans Hughes. Semon's work was so good, though, that after a while he was given a long-term contract at a sum considerably in advance of his first week's pay.
At just about this time there was a dearth of good directors for moving picture comedies and a very well-known magnate, who was also a friend of the Telegram's, found out that before his newspaper work Larry had been in the theatrical business. He had. In fact, he had been born and raised in show business and had only quit it after he decided he wanted to be artist and not an actor.
The moving picture man offered Larry a chance to leave the newspaper game and try a hand at directing comedies, which he did. After a while the old lure was so strong that he just naturally became an actor again -- and a very good one. Since then, he has concerned himself with comedy work until now he stands among the few really great moving picture comedians of the country.
Perhaps the secret of Larry's success, if there is a secret of any success, is his everlasting activity. He is never still, always on the go. If he is not engaged at the studio, he is laying plans for another production or polishing up on a bit of business for the picture he may be working on.
Larry always works with an eye to the future, and he has always been able to use whatever knowledge he may be working on.
Thus, when he was a kid with a travelling show he taught himself to draw and made use of his talent later with the "Telegram." When the call came from the movies was able to respond and make use of his knowledge of the theater. And now again he is going to make use of his drawing ability on a comic strip of the Hollywood studios.
Larry finds it very hard to get away from himself. He wanted to be an artist instead of an actor and now he finds himself playing the dual role. But he sticks close to the old rule and is doing both well, which, besides being a double-barreled salvo of flowers, is a fair tribute to one of the biggest little men anywhere.
