William Thomas Lewis

William Thomas Lewis (1748?–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management. Early days in Ireland The son of William Lewis, a linendraper on Tower Hill, London, later an actor and manager in Ireland, he was born at Ormskirk, Lancashire, in or about 1748 (there is disagreement about his birth date); he had a Welsh clerical background, and was rumoured to be a great-grandson of Erasmus Lewis. He was brought up in Armagh. A juvenile actor from very young, Lewis first appeared as "Mr. Lewis" in the playbill when he acted Colonel Briton in Susannah Centlivre's comedy The Wonder. Under Willian Dawson, Lewis appeared (1770–71) at the Capel Street Theatre in Dublin. He rapidly became popular in the city. On 19 February 1771 he was Belcour in The West Indian by Richard Cumberland, a part he made his own. On 4 May 1772, at the Crow Street Theatre. Tate Wilkinson saw him play Romeo to the Juliet of Mrs. Sparks. On the London stage On 15 October 1773, in his character of Belcour in The West Indian, Lewis made his first appearance at Covent Garden Theatre, where he was well received. He remained there for the rest of his career, with excursions to Liverpool in the summers of 1776 and 1777, to Birmingham in 1779, and to Dublin in 1806. When in 1782 he became deputy-manager of Covent Garden, he practically restricted himself to comic and familiar parts.