Terriss, William Charles James

1847

1897

William Terriss, one of the leading actors of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, was born in St John’s Wood, London, on 20 February 1847, the son of George Herbert Lewin, a barrister. After some schooling at Christ’s Hospital, a fortnight’s stint in the merchant service and some study of medicine, he became a partner in a large sheep farm in the Falkland Islands. He gained some stage experience in Birmingham and made his first London appearance, as Lord Cloudwrays in "Society", on 21 September 1868 at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre, under the Bancroft management. At the Lane and other London venues he was then seen in a number of roles and scored his first real success as Doricourt in "The Belle’s Stratagem" at the Strand at the end of 1873. Terriss acted Romeo (G0797) to Adelaide Nielson’s Juliet at the Haymarket and Comte de la Roque in the premiere of "Monsieur le Duc" at the St James’s in 1879. When he joined Ellen Terry and Henry Irving at the Lyceum in 1881 Terriss became an established star, acting Cassio, Mercutio, Don Pedro and Romeo and touring with Irving in America in 1884-85. Terriss left Irving at the end of 1885 and began his association with the Adelphi Theatre, becoming the leading man in a series of melodramas. Among his roles were Lt Hawkesworth in the London premiere of Belasco’s "The Girl I Left Behind Me" and Lewis Dumont in the first London performance of Gillette’s "Secret Service" in August 1897. Terrriss last played that role on 15 December 1897. The following day, as he was approaching the Adelphi private entrance, he was stabbed to death by a disgruntled and insane actor named Richard Archer Prince, who was convicted and committed to the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum The portrait of Terriss as Romeo (G0797) described in PCG as a watercolour is actually a hand-coloured print, after a photograph. Because of his gallant bearing and debonair style, Terriss was nicknamed ‘Breezy Bill.’ In 1888 he had married Isabel Lewis, who acted as Miss Amy Fellowes. They had two sons (one an actor) and a daughter, Ellaline (1871-1971), a popular actress (q.v.) who married the actor and playwright Seymour Hicks. (DNB; see also George Rowell, "William Terriss and Richard Prince", 1987)