Katharine Cornell is the main character in the book. From the time she is a little girl she knows that she wants to be an actress. Even as a child Kit was full of energy and ambitious which helped her become a great actress. Kit was also a great person. She always put others before herself. She would do anything to help her fellow man. Everyone that met Kit thought that she was a great person and everyone that saw her act agreed that she deserved her title "First Lady of the American Stage."

 Guthrie McClintic is Kit’s second love. The two were married and through their mutual love for the stage became very close. Guthrie was a very good director. He allowed the actors’ to play their characters as they saw fit and was very patient. He knew to expect nothing when it came to Kit because you never knew what would come next.

 Ray Henderson is Kit’s press agent. He was also a very close friend to the couple. He cared a great deal for Kit. He watched out for her best interest. His death was a great loss to the couple.

 Gertrude Macy is Kit’s manager. She also is a very good friend to the couple. She helps Kit out in all kinds of situations.

 Doctor Peter Cornell is Kit’s father. Like his daughter Peter’s first love is also the stage. He gives up his medical profession to become part-owner and manager of The Star. He was very proud of his daughter.

 Jessie Bonstelle always told Kit that if she wanted to be an actress that she could play her Jo. This promise she lived up to. She helped Kit become the great actress that she was not.

 Brian Arhene was the man who played Robert Browning. He was very good at his part and Kit asked him back when she revived "The Barretts."

 Flush was the dog in "The Barretts." He became Kit’s pet. She loved dogs.

- Doctor Cornell told Kit of an act which had elephants in it.

- Kit could think of nothing else for weeks.

- The day finally arrived. Kit would even feed the elephants after the play on stage.

- Kit thought elephants were cute, little, furry animals and when she saw the real animals she was horrified and made a scene (her first appearance on stage) and would not feed the animals.

- The family loved the theater.

- Peter married Alice Gardner Plimpton who did not have the desire to act but loved the theater.

- When their daughter, Katherine (Kit), was born she weighed only 3 pounds.

- The day she started kindergarten she spilled eggs on her dress and Peter made her practice eating eggs for an hour.

- At school Kit put on pageants.

- Kit was an unhappy child. She could not cope with children of her own age.

- Peter was giving up his profession to become part-owner and manager of The Star.

- Kit would, to the surprise of her parents, become "The First Lady of the American Stage."

- Kit become such an expert on the trapeze she performed in a circus.

- An acrobat gave her a slack wire. After she sprained her ankle Peter took the wire down.

- Kit was allowed to watch Maude Adams in "Peter Pan."

- Her mother told her to be quiet, "Curtain going up!." This gave Kit a feeling of awe, of momentous experiences impending.

- Kit was going to be an actress.

- Grandmother Plimpton was one of the most wonderful women in the world.

- The dream of becoming an actress persisted as she grew up.

- The Jessie Bonstelle Stock Company came to The Star and Kit was allowed to watch the rehearsals.

- Someday maybe Kit would act for Bonstelle as Jo in Little Women.

- Kit grew fast in her early teens and her shyness increased. Nothing was right with Kit.

- Kit turned 15 and her parents sent her to boarding school - the Oaksmere School in Mamaroneck, Long Island, which is close to New York.

- Two years after Kit left for school her mother, Alice, died of a heart attack.

- Kit was the leader of the theatrical department.

- One of her most treasured possessions was an autobiography autographed by Bernhardt herself.

- Kit majored in psychology.

- Miss Grover, an actress, told Kit not to go into acting, it was too difficult.

- Miss Helburn came to direct the plays and she called Edward Goodman to act in a play written by Kit.

- He told her to come see him in New York if she wanted to go on stage.

- After she finished school, Kit moved to New York.

- For weeks she tried to see Goodman at the Comedy Theater, at last he told her to come and read some lines.

- When she tried she was too nervous and did not get the part.

- She sent for her father and he suggested a coach she thought of Florence Enright who had seen her audition.

- Florence suggested she come and watch rehearsals. She even got a very small part.

- In the next play Kit was playing an artist and people noticed.

- Ms. Frances M. Wolcott thought she was ready for better things. She thought all Kit needed was the right contacts. Kit spilled burgundy in Ms. Faversham’s lap.

- Mr. Faversham wired to Kit the offer to try out for the lead in his new play.

- Kit decided she was not ready yet.

- Kit returned to the Washington Square Players and was paid $40 a year.

- The war began and actors would be drafted. Guthrie McClintic attended one of their meetings.

- After a performance Bonstelle came and offered Kit a job at The Star as she had promised.

- Kit was a stock actress (played any part but nothing important.) She spent more money than she made on costumes.

- Bonstelle thought she had talent.

- When the summer ended and the Washington Square Players were no more, Kit had to "go the rounds." She went to different agents’ offices and applied for jobs.

- Bonstelle called and offered Kit a part in a play for Grace George.

- Grace said that the part wasn’t right for her.

- Bonstelle called again and wanted her to try out for a part with Bill Brady.

- She would play the lead part.

- Kit was playing second parts for Bonstelle and had no rest.

- Kit could not rest at the end of the season either. Bonstelle wanted her to play Jo in Little Women.

- Before it opened in London Bonstelle was extremely hard on Kit. She wanted Kit to be the great actress she never was.

- Kit was a success but she was lonely and homesick.

- Guthrie McClintic was to be the new director.

- He was 5 years older than Kit and shared her love of the stage.

- The two fell in love in a single week. they could face anything together, but their love had to be shared with their first love, the theater. It took a lot of their time.

- Guthrie was a great director.

- One day he left a script in a rent car, but they found it in time.

- The couple was engaged. Nobody was happy for them.

- The Packard Agency called Kit, she would never have to "go the rounds" again.

- Kit had to have her tonsils removed. When she was well she got a part on Broadway.

- Kit would plat the lead, Sydney.

- Guthrie and Kit were married September 8, 1921 and rehearsals for Sydney began on the 9th. She had been chosen for the part because of her performance as Jo.

- Even though at first the play was a failure, it became a great success.

- Now people came and asked Kit to be in their plays.

- Kit’s next two plays were failures and Guthrie wasn’t making much money either.

- Then Kit played the lead in "The Outsider." It was a huge success and ran for 13 weeks before the actors went on strike.

- The striking actors formed Equity which was a labor union for actors.

- When the strike was settled David Belasco sent for Kit. He offered her the lead in Tiger Cats. She had very strenuous rehearsals and the play was not a hit.

- Guthrie was put in charge of the Actor’s Theater. Kit was asked to play the lead Candida for them.

- Candida was a true success and played when Tiger Cats closed.

- In the day of the flapper, Kit was asked to play Iris March in "The Green Hat." Guthrie was asked to direct it.

- Before the performance Kit was nervous. Her dedicated maid, Eveline, knew all the signs and wished she could help.

- The Green Hat ran for 29 weeks in Manhattan and was on tour for over 2 years.

- She reached stardom when the lights on the marquee read:

KATH CORNELL

in

THE GREEN HAT

- Of course stardom meant more responsibilities.

- Two men Conger Goodyear and Stanton Griffis were ready to invest in them managing their own productions but the couple thought this was a plan for the future.

- At the close of "The Letter," which was a phenomenal success, the couple took a rest.

- While in Santa Barbara, Kit met up with Gertrude Macy.

- Guthrie asked Gertrude to go to Paris with Kit since he could not go. She said yes.

- Eventually Gert became Kit’s manager.

- Opening night of "The Age of Innocence" Kit broke a rib and burned her arm severely but still gave a brilliant performance.

- Kit was always a box office hit. She was offered parts in movies but rejected them all.

- When looking for a new play for Guthrie, Kit looked toward "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" by Rudolph Besier.

- Guthrie would only direct the play if Kit would play Elizabeth Barrett.

- This would be the play where the couple would become managers.

- People thought everyone investing in the couple would lose all of their money.

- Brian Aherne would play the charming Robert Browning.

- Flush, Elizabeth’s cocker spaniel, was found in a 5 month old pup. Gert would train Flush.

- Their rehearsals were not held in the conventional fashion which made the play even better.

- Despite the Depression the play was a success and ran for over a year at the Empire before heading out on a 2 year tour.

- Kit hired Ray Henderson as a press agent.

- Kit began to complain of a pressure at the back of her neck and became extremely thin. The doctor suspected this was because of the way she had to hold her neck for so long in the play.

- Kit let them close the theater but only if the other actors still received their salary.

- She came back refreshed and reopened "The Barretts."

- Kit loved being on tour.

- After 2 months the headaches returned and Kit saw two doctors.

- They cut back on the number of performances and Kit’s health improved.

- Kit smashed her finger in the car door. She played in the matinee with a handkerchief over her hand and the next few weeks with a cast on it.

- Ray thought they should give a performance for a dollar a seat and give the proceeds to the Teacher Sick Fund. The performance was sold out.

- In 1932 Bonstelle died.

- Kit loved playing Elizabeth and hated to give it up.

- They would produce a play called "Alien Corn."

- The banks closed and they worried if they would be able to pay salaries.

- Kit refused to close the show. She even let people pay with IOUs and checks and did not lose any money from this.

- Kit learned the part of Shakespeare’s Juliet. They would go on tour acting out three plays: "The Barretts," "Candida," and "Romeo and Juliet."

- Kit had a Christmas dinner for the cast while on the train to brighten spirits.

- In Seattle the audience waited for three hours for their performance because of the rain delay.

- They began their performance at 1:05 a.m. and it was wonderful despite it all.

- At then end of the tour the couple went on vacation. Kit decided in her coming season she would once again play Juliet.

- Everyone loved her the press declared her "The First Lady of the American Stage."

- Kit planned on plating Joan of Arc.

- She caught the flu and the play could not open on time. It opened one week later and Kit gave an unforgettable performance.

- Kit received several awards and Honorary degrees for her acting.

- Kit was given the National Achievement Award which was presented at the White House. She would have to give a speech.

- Eleanor Roosevelt helped to unnerve Kit.

- Guthrie lost his collar buttons and had to borrow the President’s.

- The couple had a house built in Martha’s Vineyard called Chip Chop.

- Kit decided to go on world tour to make Ray happy.

- Ray’s plane crashed and he drowned.

- Kit took a "sabbatical" year to do anything she wanted to.

- Kit gave the first five cent matinee for children.

- Kit performed "Candida" and the proceeds went to the Army and Navy Relief Fund.

- Alexander Wollcott died.

- Kit worked at the Stage Door Canteen with 2300 actors feeding the soldiers.

- Kit even appeared in a movie about the Canteen.

- Days at Chip Chop were just short interludes between those wonderful moments when someone called "Curtain going up!"