# 25 Inspiration

And so I said to myself: Self, whatever shall we write about Now? I know--we'll write how he wore his mentor's thumb on a chain, a necklace!

(Note: David Belasco (1853-1931) was a famous American actor/director/playwright whose early education in a San Francisco monastery may have inspired his wearing a priest's garb most of his life, which in turn, inspired the nick name "the Bishop of Broadway."

At the age of 12 he ran away from the monastery and joined the circus. He became an actor, and in Carson City, Nevada, he met Dion Boucicault (whose thumb he is rumored to have worn on a chain about his neck as inspiration.) His off-stage life was often extravagant and bizarre. As a director, he would rip out his pocket watch and stamp it to pieces in front of his actors (he kept a stockpile of these cheap watches for just this purpose). And it was reported that he once dragged actress Leslie Carter around the stage by her red hair to inspire emotion and passion in her performance. I'm just sayin' here that I know it would have surely have inspired ME! Anyhow, this is the way I remember it from my theater history classes long ago. If I remember it wrong, please let me know....)
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