Alexander Woollcott

Here you have Mr. Woollcott, the Aleck of All Arts. He has been soldier, essayist, critic, lecturer, correspondent, radio broadcaster, shouter and murmurer. Now he combines the best or, according to your point of view, the worst features of each and becomes actor. He is the caustic Greek chorus in Mr. Behrinan's current Brief Moment; he is the cynical and lethargic friend who from his post on a sofa, showers a barrage of ribald darts upon his fellow mimes.

Mr. W. has his not inconsiderable being in an apartment overlooking the East River, his neighbors being the residents of Welfare Island on the east and Alice Duer Miller on the south. At his apartment on a winter Sunday you may find a crowd gathered for breakfast ranging from Frank Lloyd Wright to Katharine Cornell. His enthusiasms are croquet, Christmas, mystery stories, Mrs. Fiske, anagrams, Harpo Marx, Dickens and good food, to name a few. He forces himself to travel periodically, to clear possible cobwebs from his point of view. There is but one flaw in his benign and saintly character, and that is his passion for that menace backgammon.

FRANK SULLIVAN