Arthur Williams (9 December 1844 â€" 15 September 1915) was an English
actor, singer and playwright best remembered for his roles in comic
operas, musical burlesques and Edwardian musical comedies. As a
playwright, Williams wrote several farces as well as some dramas.Born
in Islington, London, Williams initially went into business as a law
stationer but soon left to take up acting in 1861 when he was 17. He
travelled to Gravesend, Kent, where he made his stage début as Alfred
Martelli in "The Corsican Brothers". He made his London stage debut at
the St James's Theatre in 1868, where his roles included Thomas in The
Secret, Baron Factotum in a burlesque of Sleeping Beauty, and Moses in
The School for Scandal. After playing in dramas in the 1870s, he
appeared in comic operas in the 1880s, in which he created the roles
Sir Mincing Lane in Billee Taylor, Sir Whiffle Whaffle in Claude
Duval, Amaranth CVIII in Lord Bateman, his most famous role, Lurcher
in Dorothy and Corporal Bundy in The Red Hussar.In the last decade of
the century, he appeared in The Shop Girl, The Circus Girl and A
Message from Mars, by Richard Ganthony, among others. In 1902, he
began a long association with the hit musical A Chinese Honeymoon and
went on to appear in a further six musicals and plays including The
Belle of Mayfair (1906) and A Waltz Dream (1908). Later roles included
Cornelius Scroop in The Girl in the Train in 1910 and Touchstone in As
You Like It the following year. One of his last roles was in 1914 as
Perkyn Middlewick in Our Boys. He died the following year at the age
of 70.
actor, singer and playwright best remembered for his roles in comic
operas, musical burlesques and Edwardian musical comedies. As a
playwright, Williams wrote several farces as well as some dramas.Born
in Islington, London, Williams initially went into business as a law
stationer but soon left to take up acting in 1861 when he was 17. He
travelled to Gravesend, Kent, where he made his stage début as Alfred
Martelli in "The Corsican Brothers". He made his London stage debut at
the St James's Theatre in 1868, where his roles included Thomas in The
Secret, Baron Factotum in a burlesque of Sleeping Beauty, and Moses in
The School for Scandal. After playing in dramas in the 1870s, he
appeared in comic operas in the 1880s, in which he created the roles
Sir Mincing Lane in Billee Taylor, Sir Whiffle Whaffle in Claude
Duval, Amaranth CVIII in Lord Bateman, his most famous role, Lurcher
in Dorothy and Corporal Bundy in The Red Hussar.In the last decade of
the century, he appeared in The Shop Girl, The Circus Girl and A
Message from Mars, by Richard Ganthony, among others. In 1902, he
began a long association with the hit musical A Chinese Honeymoon and
went on to appear in a further six musicals and plays including The
Belle of Mayfair (1906) and A Waltz Dream (1908). Later roles included
Cornelius Scroop in The Girl in the Train in 1910 and Touchstone in As
You Like It the following year. One of his last roles was in 1914 as
Perkyn Middlewick in Our Boys. He died the following year at the age
of 70.
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