Background
Waller was born on November 3, 1860 in Bilbao, Spain, the eldest son of an English civil engineer, William James Lewis, and his wife, Carlotta née Vyse.
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William Waller Lewis
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also known as
Lewis Waller
Education
He was educated at King's College School in south west London, after which, intending to pursue a commercial career, he studied languages on the continent.
Career
After acting in amateur performances, Waller decided to make a career on the stage and was engaged by J. L. Toole in 1883. His first role was the Hon. Claude Lorrimer in H. J. Byron's Uncle Dick's Darling, in which he was billed as "Waller Lewis". By May of the same year, he had adopted the stage name Lewis Waller.
He first appeared on the London stage in 1883, at Toole's, and for some years added to his reputation as a capable actor in London and the provinces. Towards the end of 1885, Waller ventured into management for the first time, touring a production of Called Back, switching to the role of Dr. Basil North, in which The Manchester Guardian thought him "a trifle too melodramatic".
The tour was modestly successful, but not such as to lead Waller to mount further productions for the moment.
Waller returned to the West End, working for a succession of managements. At the Strand Theatre in early 1887, he played Roy Carlton in Jack-in-the-Box, which his biographer in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes as his first substantial success in London.
In October 1893 Waller returned to management, mounting a tour of Wilde's A Woman of No Importance, in which he played Lord Illingworth.
He came more particularly to the front by a fine performance as Buckingham in The Three Musketeers under Mr Beerbohm Tree's management at His Majesty's in 1895, and soon afterwards organized a company of his own, first at the Haymarket and afterwards at the Shaftesbury, Imperial, Apollo and other theatres.
In 1911 and 1912, Waller made a tour of the United States, Canada and Australia. In his absence his wife died.
His last play was May Martindale's Gamblers All, which opened at Wyndham's Theatre, London in June 1915, with Gerald du Maurier and Madge Titheradge co-starring. The Manchester Guardian called the production "a personal acting triumph for Lewis Waller".
After the West End run, Waller took the play on tour, during which he contracted pneumonia, from which he died in Nottingham two days short of his 55th birthday.
Achievements
Personality
The critic Hesketh Pearson praised Waller for "his good looks [and] his virile acting and his vibrant voice" which "rang through the theatre like a bell and stirred like a trumpet".
His fine voice and vigorous acting were well suited in his memorable production of Henry V, and he had a great success with Monsieur Beaucaire and similar plays. He attracted a large number of female admirers, who formed themselves into a vocal and conspicuous fan club.
Quotes from others about the person
Rudolph de Cordova, in a 1909 biographical sketch notes, "During this period, few theatres played regular afternoon performances, so that the actors were, for the most part, engaged only in the evening. Many matinees were, however, given to introduce new plays and new players; and in this way Mr. Waller acted a large number of new parts, all of an ephemeral character. "
Connections
His wife, Florence West also became well knowrn as a powerful and accomplished actress.
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Born
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Died
January 1, 1915 (aged 54) -
Nationality
British -
Ethnicity