Lewis Waller

British actor Lewis Waller (1860-1915) was best known as a matinee idol in the popular romantic plays of his day. His types were the handsaome, triumphant heroes, ready to make love to every pretty woman and skilled in the use of sword and rapier. Although Waller himself loved playing Shakespeare roles like Romeo, Othello, and Henry V, his most profitable plays were always his swashbuckling romances. The good-looking actor attracted large female audiences who made themselves in a fan club known as the K.O.W. (Keen On Waller) Brigade. Waller also worked as a playwright and a stage manager and appeared in a few early British films.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co, E.C., no. G 703 O. Photo: Langfler Ltd. Lewis Waller as Henry V, in the eponymous Shakespeare play.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co, E.C., no. 703 B. Photo: Langfler Ltd., London.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, E.C., no. 4222 C. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield. Publicity still for the stage production 'Robin Hood' (1906).


British postcard by Rotary Photo, EC, no. 107 G. Sent by mail in 1905.


British postcard in the Philco Series, no. 3008. Photo: Bassano. Written on the card: Love. Is he not sweet?

Vigorous Acting

Lewis Waller was born William Waller Lewis in Bilbao, Spain, in 1860, the eldest son of an English civil engineer, William James Lewis, and his wife, Carlotta née Vyse. 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.

From 1879 to 1883 he was a clerk in a London firm owned by his uncle. In 1882 he married Florence Isabella Brandon (1858–1912), who shortly afterwards became a professional actress under the name of Florence West. They had a son and a daughter. After acting in amateur performances, Waller decided to make a career on the stage and was engaged by J. L. Toole in 1883.

He first appeared on the London stage in 1883. His debut was as 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 got his start in the companies of the famous Dame Helena Modjeska and J. L. Toole.

Waller came to the front with a fine performance as Buckingham in 'The Three Musketeers' under legendary English actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree's management at His Majesty's in 1895.Soon afterwards Waller organised a company of his own, first at the Haymarket and afterwards at other theatres. His fine voice and vigorous acting earned him critical acclaim in a number of Shakespeare roles, such as the title character in 'Henry V', Brutus in 'Julius Caesar', and Faulkenbridge in 'King John'.

He had his greatest successes, however, in romantic roles, such as 'Monsieur Beaucaire', a dramatic adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel. Waller also created the role of Sir Robert Chiltern in Oscar Wilde’s 'An Ideal Husband' (1895). His wife, Florence West, appeared often with Waller in his most successful romances. 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".


Grace Lane and Lewis Waller. British postcard, no. 1595. Photo: Rotary Photo.


British postcard by Raphael Tuck & Sons in the Play Pictorial Series, no. 5A. Photo: publicity still for the stage play 'Monsieur Beaucaire'.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co., London, no. 756V. Photo: Langfier Ltd. Lewis Waller and Evelyn Millard.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, E.C., no. 2183 E. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield. Publicity still for the stage play 'The Duke's Motto' (1908) with Lewis Waller and Valli Valli.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, E.C., no. 7413 Photo: C. Foulsham & Banfield. Lewis Waller as Jim Carston in the play 'A White Man'. On his lap, Miss Rita Leggiero as his son, Little Hal. Caption: And now daddy will undress you and hear your prayers.

Fires of Fate

In 1899 Lewis Waller appeared as Philip Faulconbridge in the short film drama King John (Walter Pfeffer Dando, William K.L. Dickson, 1899), based on a scene from William Shakespeare's play. 'King John' was played by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

After the turn of the century, he returned to management, and remained an actor-manager for the rest of his career, both in London and on tour. Fifteen years later, Waller played the title role in the American historical film drama Brigadier Gerard (Bert Haldane, 1915), an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel. In 1907 and 1911, Waller made a small number of recordings for the Gramophone Company, including Tennyson's 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and the speech from Shakespeare's 'Henry V'.

Two of his plays were filmed after his death. His play 'Fires of Fate', based on another novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, 'The Tragedy of Korosco', was filmed, Fires of Fate (Tom Terriss, 1923) with Wanda Hawley, Nigel Barrie and Stewart Rome.

Finally, Maurice Elvey directed Waller’s adaptation of the historical novel 'Henry, King of Navarre' by Alexandre Dumas père, Henry, King of Navarre (Maurice Elvey, 1924) starring Matheson Lang and Henry Victor.

In 1911 and 1912, Waller made a tour of the US, Canada and Australia. In his absence, his wife, Florence West, died. In 1915, Lewis Waller died from double pneumonia, in Nottingham, England, just two days shy of his fifty-fifth birthday. Their son Edmund Waller was also an actor.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co., London, no. 782. Photo: J. Caswall Smith.


British postcard by J. Beagles & Co.,London, no. 1094. Photo: Louis Saul Langfier. Lewis Waller as Henry V (1900).


British postcard in The Wrench series, printed in Saxony, no. 997. Photo: Biograph Studio.


British postcard by E. Hildesheimer & Co, London/Manchester. Sent by mail in 1905. Photo: Lafayette. Waller in his stage role as Brutus in 'Julius Caesar'.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. 4252 K. Sent by mail in 1908. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield. Publicity still for the play 'The White Man' (1908). In this play, based on the Western play 'The Squaw Man' (1905) by Edwin Milton Royle, Lewis Waller appeared as Cowboy Bronco Buster at the Lyric Theatre in London. In the cast, there were also several American performers.


British postcard by Rotary Photographic Series, no. 4298 D. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield. Publicity still for the play 'A White Man' (1908). This play, based on the Western play 'The Squaw Man' (1905) by Edwin Milton Royle, was presented at the Lyric Theatre in London.


British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. E.C., 7414 E. Foulsham & Banfield. Lewis Waller as Jim Carston in the play 'A White Man', also with Herbert Sleath as the Earl of Kerhill, Nora Lancaster as the Countess of Kerhill, and A.G. Poullton as Sir John Applegate. Caption: I believe the gentleman does bear a certain resemblance to the man you mean.


British postcard By "My Queen"& "Romance" Novelettes. Caption: One penny weekly. Two Picture Postcards presented with each copy.

Sources: Harry Rusche (Shakespeare & The Players), IMDb and Wikipedia.