Gossip Friday: On the stage

From November 1936:

…Which reminds me of a swell yarn about Clark Gable. He is one Hollywood star who has never gone swell-head and who never forgets his early struggle. He was making an appearance on Louella Parsons’ “Hollywood Hotel” show, which as you may know broadcats from the old Figueroa Playhouse in downtown Los Angeles, whose boards, at one time or another, have been trod by all the great theatrical personages of the last decade.

At a break in rehearsal, Clark walked over to a corner of the stage, faced the empty orchestra pit, and started playing to it. “Whatcha doing?” kiddingly inquired one of the orchestra boys. “Doncha know your lines yet?”

Clark grinned. “Yep,” he said. “I was digging into the past. I was saying the speech I used to say when I played this house as a punk kid. It wasn’t long ago either, fella.” and he grinned again. “My line was, as I remember, ‘They wait without,sir!’ And now they do wait without for me. Swell feeling to come down here!”