The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 83

i THE ANTI-HERO SPEAKS OUT LONDON "Nothing to do with money is trifling" this credp belongs to Soames Forsyte, the materialistic, austere anti-hero of "The Forsyte a3 Soames is so convincingly played by Eric Porter that, in England, he re-ceive hundreds of letters each week from women who declared they were about Soames. Critics, too, have said that Porter's portrayal is "the definitive Soames," hinting that future attempts at the part will be measured by his. But Porter himself is more impressed by viewer reaction, and was happy "to have persuaded the viewer to look at the cold and unsympathetic Soames from his own point of view." "Soames is certainly a villain," Eric concedes, "but Galsworthy is a sufficiently good novelist to give his1 characters redeeming features. "I even see elements of myself in the1 character the withdrawn side of his nature, and his inability to communicate with other people, for The" son of a London bus Porter "Nowadays that sort of background is fashionable in the Eng-t lish theatre, but when I started out 25 years ago it was hell." As a youth, he says, "I was known jn the family as being moody and reserved." This has-fallen-away-over the-years, though I still don't enjoy enormous parties." Porter regards stardom with the wry comment, "The foot I have in the door is only precariously placed." Success of, the variety that Soames worshipped doesn't particularly interest him, as it's "such a spurious thing you can almost compute success these days." AH the same, he has had his share of it, and is now a limited company, with two houses (in Stratford and London), two cars and many of the other things that people equate with suc- cess. For Porter, success is "being able to do what you want to do, witrrthe people you want to do it with." -At41, he is unmarried, and since his teens has rarely been out of work being occupied either on stage, in films or television.

His memorable stage and TV roles include "Beckett," the Pope in 'The Representative," Bolingbroke in "Richard II," Henry in "Henry IV" and the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac. His films include 'The POmpkin Eater," 'The Fall of the Roman Empire," "Heroes of Telemark" and "Kaleidoscope." In 1946-47s he. toured Canada and the United States with the Donald Wolfit stage company. Of his sudden popularity with women, Eric thinks it is a "sympathy thing. Girls are inclined to take a 'Poor soul, you need somebody to love you' could havejts advantages, but frankly, I prefer to do my own hunting.".