Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Actor and theatre manager; born William Waller Lewis, 3 November 1860 in Bilbao, Spain. Began acting professionally in London in 1883, when changed his name to Lewis Waller; next years spent with different companies and touring; first London stage success 1887, as Roy Carlton in Jack-in-the-Box; initial ventures into management 1895, with Haymarket and Shaftesbury theatres; always versatile, caused a sensation as Brutus in Julius Caesar and as D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (both 1898); great Shakespearean roles included Philip Faulconbridge in King John (1899) and title role in Henry V (1900); Monsieur Beaucaire (1902) proved a box office success and was many times revived; as theatre manager, in charge at the Imperial (1903–6) and Lyric (1906–10) theatres; toured USA, Canada and Australia 1911–12; caught pneumonia while touring Britain in 1915; died 1 November 1915 at Rufford Hotel, Nottingham; buried in Kensal Green cemetery, London.

The theatre manager Walter James Macqueen-Pope later recalled: ‘If you had seen an alert, striding figure, with a rather wide mouth and strong jaw, you would have recognized Lewis Waller at once, for always there was the shadow of a cloak and sword, thigh boots and spurs superimposed on Savile Row.’ [1]

An actor with a ‘glorious voice [and] a terrific personality’, [2] Waller was the classic Edwardian stage idol. According to the actor and theatre director Hesketh Pearson, ‘It may be doubted whether any player in history has had such a large and fanatical female following. This was due not only to his good looks but to his virile acting and his vibrant voice.’ [3] Macqueen-Pope said: ‘He was the first actor to have a fan club. The girls called themselves the “Keen on Wallers” and wore badges – but the initials brought them to derision, to their own dismay and Waller’s joy. For he loathed it all.’ [4]

Carol Blackett-Ord

Referencesback to top

Aria 1906
Aria, E., Costume: Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, London, 1906.

Beerbohm 1908
Beerbohm, M., ‘How “dare” he’, Saturday Review, 20 June 1908.

Beerbohm 1909
Beerbohm, M., ‘An Actor in Jeopardy’, Saturday Review, 6 February 1909.

[Cassell] 1900
[Cassell & Co., pub.], Royal Academy Pictures 1900: illustrating the hundred and thirty-second exhibition of the Royal Academy, London, 1900.

[Cassell] 1903
[Cassell & Co., pub.], Royal Academy Pictures 1903: illustrating the hundred and thirty-fifth exhibition of the Royal Academy, London, 1903.

Emeljanow 2004
Emeljanow, V., ‘Waller, Lewis (1860–1915)’, ODNB, Oxford, 2004; online ed., January 2011.

Furniss 1925
Furniss, H., Paradise in Piccadilly: The Story of Albany, London, 1925.

Hall 1930–34
Hall, L.A., Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits in the Theatre Collection of the Harvard College Library, 4 vols, Cambridge, MA, 1930–34.

Hart-Davis 1972
Hart-Davis, R., A Catalogue of the Caricatures of Max Beerbohm, London, 1972.

Hastings 2009
Hastings, S., The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, London, 2009.

Hudson 1975
Hudson, D., For Love of Painting: The Life of Sir Gerald Kelly, KCVO, PRA, London, 1975.

Lawrence [c.1900]
Lawrence, B., ed., Celebrities of the Stage, London, n.d. [c.1900].

Macqueen-Pope 1947
Macqueen-Pope, W., Carriages at Eleven: The Story of the Edwardian Theatre, London, 1947

Parker 1912
Parker, J., Who’s Who in the Theatre, London, 1912.

Pearson 1950
Pearson, H., The Last Actor-Managers, London, 1950.

Shaw 1932
Shaw, (G.)B., Our Theatres in the Nineties, 3 vols, London, 1932.

Trewin 1980
Trewin, W., All on Stage: Charles Wyndham and the Alberys, London, 1980.

Waller [1909]
Waller, L., Parts I Have Played 1883–1909, London, n.d. [1909], unpaginated.