Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue
Sir Charles Wyndham (Charles Culverwell) (1837-1919), Actor and theatre manager
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Actor and theatre manager; born Charles Culverwell 23 March 1837 in Liverpool. Trained in medicine and qualified to practise 1859 via the Society of Apothecaries and the University of Giessen, Hesse, simultaneously developing a strong interest in acting and theatre-going; married Emma Silberrad (c.1837-1916) 1860 (separated 1897); first adopted stage name Charles Wyndham in same year (legalized 1886); turned professional actor 1862; having moved to America at some point previously, enlisted in the Confederate States Army and served as an assistant surgeon almost for the duration of the American Civil War; debuted on the American stage 1863, acting alongside John Wilkes Booth (who was to assassinate Abraham Lincoln in 1865); returned to London 1865, where he sealed his reputation via a string of successful farces and later romantic comedies and costume pieces, including the title role in David Garrick 1886, with which his name is most closely associated; managed Criterion Theatre 1875-89; continued to make professional visits to North America with the Criterion Company 1889-1910; built Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, 1899; knighted 1902; opened New Theatre (now Noël Coward Theatre), behind Wyndham’s on St Martin’s Lane, 1903; married actress Mary Moore 1916, following Silberrad’s death; died 12 January 1919 in London, problems with memory loss having clouded his final years.
Wyndham was known for his physical presence and agility on the stage. His obituarist in The Times explained that ‘in [his younger] days he was an admirable dancer; and lightness and grace of movement were always characteristic of him. It used to be said that he never carried a walking stick, so that his hands and wrists might remain lissom.’ [1]
Elizabeth Heath
Wyndham was known for his physical presence and agility on the stage. His obituarist in The Times explained that ‘in [his younger] days he was an admirable dancer; and lightness and grace of movement were always characteristic of him. It used to be said that he never carried a walking stick, so that his hands and wrists might remain lissom.’ [1]
Elizabeth Heath
Referencesback to top
Ashton 1997Ashton, G., Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K.A. Burnim and A. Wilton, London, 1997.
Buckman 1998
Buckman, D., Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945, Bristol, 1998.
Burnim & Wilton 2001
Burnim, K.A., and A. Wilton, The Richard Bebb Collection in the Garrick Club: A Catalogue of Figures, Sculptures and Paintings, London, 2001.
Donohue 1971
Donohue, J.W., Jr, ed., The Theatrical Manager in England and America: Player of a Perilous Game, Princeton, 1971.
Furniss [1915–16]
Furniss, H., Garrick Gallery Caricatures, privately printed, London, n.d. [1915–16].
Furniss 1924
Furniss, H., Some Victorian Men, London, 1924.
Hall 1997
Hall, N.J., Max Beerbohm Caricatures, New Haven and London, 1997.
Hart-Davis 1972
Hart-Davis, R., A Catalogue of the Caricatures of Max Beerbohm, London, 1972.
Mander & Mitchenson 1957
Mander R., and J. Mitchenson, A Picture History of the British Theatre, London, 1957.
Pemberton 1904
Pemberton, T.E., Sir Charles Wyndham: A Biography, London, 1904.
Read 2004
Read, M., ‘Wyndham, Sir Charles (1837–1919)’, ODNB, Oxford, 2004; online ed., January 2011.
Trewin 1980
Trewin, W., All on Stage: Charles Wyndham and the Alberys, London, 1980.
Whyte 1898
Whyte, F., Actors of the Century: A Play-Lover’s Gleanings from Theatrical Annals, London, 1898.