WYRLEY BIRCH
(Mr. Patterson)

    When the first dress rehearsal of "The Desperate Hours" occurred at the Barrymore Theatre, a new young doorman, thinking he was an interloper, barred the way to Wyrley Birch who appeared in the not so natty costume he wears in the play. Had the attendant been somewhat older he might have recognized the gentleman as a distinguished veteran. In fact, Mr. Birch is celebrating his fifty-fifth year as a professional actor, all of which he says have been glorious ones. They brought him associations and friendships with many of the great stage names and if cajoled, he will regale his colleagues with colorful tales of the old days before radio, television and even motion pictures were popular. During this epic span of time, he has appeared in more than twenty successful New York productions. He was in the original casts of "Another Language," "Arsenic and Old Lace," "How I Wonder," "Chicken Every Sunday;" also in "Whiteoaks" and "School For Scandal" with Ethel Barrymore, "All For All" with Jack Pearl, "Harvey" both in New York and on tour with Joe E. Brown, "What Every Woman Knows" with Olivia de Havilland, and the Arthur Hopkins production of "The Old Soak." Among his more than twenty-five motion pictures, the most outstanding were "Lost Horizon," "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town," "The Last Days of Pompeii," "Love Me Forever" and "Boomerang." He is also a well known figure on the various video dramas.