Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1937, Page 105

Aay 16, 1937 i another byal family of the stage.” hus runs an excerpt from letter written by Ernest ruex to one of his sons. oth boys have chosen beir father’s profession as eir own. So it happens at New York audiences the last season have seen all three Truexes successful productions. Son James has bpeared in ‘“Tovarich” while a few blocks ay Philip has been playing a part in Richard I1.” At the same time Ernest him- If, a seasoned and brilliant actor, played gh-comedy in the operetta, ‘“Fredericka,” here Helen Gleason, of Metropolitan Opera ne, and Dennis King appeared with him. There is hardly any type of theatrical pro- uction in which Mr. Truex has not played nportant roles. He has been seen and loved pictures and has starred on the legitimate age in farces, musical comedies, and serious a. And before that he was always in emand as a child actor. One of his famous bles as a child came in “Rebecca of Sunny- rook Farm,” with the little golden haired ary Pickford as his leading lady. Schooling was irregular in those days for it ad to be sandwiched in, between engage- hents. In one such interval, Emnest found imself attending the East Denver High ool in company with two other boys who ere destined for theatrical fame. Their names ere Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd. Ernest’s own connection with the stage was, h fact, established when, as a little boy of e, he lived in a small Missouri town where is father was the local doctor, troubled casionally by proud but impecunious pa- ents. One of these was an actor, stranded in e town and full of reminiscences about the art of gravedigger which he had played hen Booth had the title role in Hamlet. To pay Dr. Truex for medical service he had THIS WEEK [LIGHTS ON | Photography by Hewitt & Keene TREAT THE FAMILY TO THESE BAKED BEAN-HAM ROLLS Ernest Truex, famous for his acting of high comedy, finds that environment decides a man'’s taste in food by GRACE TURNER received, the penniless actor offered to train . small Emnest as.an actor. But no one could have foreseen how apt a pupil the tiny youngster would be. Young as he was at that time, Ernest Truex still remembers vividly those Missouri days and the somewhat later ones in Colorado. “The place where you live affects not only your present but alse your future,” he says. “Even the things I like to eat are influenced by the places I have been. My early appetite was often appeased by corn bread and hominy — the whole hominy, not the grit. In our house this was the same standard accompani- ment for meat as potatoes are. The hominy was cooked with cracklin’s, which are really pork scraps fried very crisp and capable of lending a marvelous flavor to a mess of hominy. Hot biscuits were also frequent on our table. And all these dishes I still consider very good, indeed.”’ After he had stayed for awhile in Mexico, Ernest came away from that colorful country and its hot, exciting dishes with a permanent liking for Mexican food. And in England he acquired a lasting predilection for beefsteak puddings, and for the pigeon pies he ate at that famous old London coffee house the “Cheshire Cheese.” “You see,” he explains, “‘being nomads in our family we got to liking foods of various kinds from all over the world. In fact, I enjoy all strange foods and have eaten a Javanese dinner that seemed to me one of the best meals I ever had. “But,” he adds with a laugh, “my favorite of all favorites is a red raspberry pie made with a top crust but not an under one — and that, of course, is a very typical American . concoction. I like all pies, with a preference, however, for the deep-dish variety. And I like ice cream of almost every flavor, especially if N0 I can have it served with strawberry or chocolate sauce.” Asalistmae!-‘:nutmfiuamoym or clam or fruit cucktail \Then, since he iss “not a heavy eater,” he names steak or fried chicken for the, second course with perhaps one vegetable or merely a mixed green salad. Andhew:llfinnhmtha\eofhufavwmepu or a dish of ice cream. Week ends are the usual Truex time for entertaining, with buffet meals especially popular. The Baked Bean-Ham Rolls which we illustrate on this page have been found exceptionally satisfactory on such occasions. Everybody enjoys them and we hope that our readers will find them a happy suggestion on the part of Mr. Truex. Potato salad is a good choice to serve with them. And if your buffet table is to offer another main dish, you might like the fried chicken and spaghetti which are often served at the Truex parties. Acfotpeaonalachwvenmumthd\epou : and pans Emest describes himself as a mid- night-snack cooker. “At night, after the show, when everybody else is in bed, I like to make myself a bacon-and-egg or a melted cheese sandwich,"” he says. . There seems to be in Ernest’s tastes in food a pleasant atmosphere of the good things that we think of as belong- ing to bountiful farm tables. Perhaps he in- herits the preference for this kind of foody, from his farm-folk an- cestors, who left their southern-Belgian homes and came across the sea to settle in New Am- sterdam, as New York - was called back in 1608 when the Truex family landed here.. Baked-Bean-Ham Rolls Preparefotlurtyappefitetwbenyw serve this dish. Men like it. 6 thin slices ham (beked or boiled) 2 tablespoons prepared mustard’ 2 cups baked beans : 6 slices bacon Spread ham slices wlt.h mustard. Ar- range baked beans at one end of each ~ slice and roll as tightly as possible. Wrap' each rollina slice of bacon, fasten securely with tooth-pick and broil under high flame. turning lmhlbaoonucmpmall'