Lewis Morrison
Lewis Morrison | |
---|---|
![]() Lewis Morrison in 1894 | |
Born | Morris W. Morris September 4, 1844 |
Died | August 18, 1906 (aged 61) Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor |
Spouse(s) | Rose Wood (married 1877–1890) Florence Roberts (married 1892–1906) |
Children | 3, including Adrienne Morrison |
Lewis Morrison (September 4, 1844 – August 18, 1906) was a Jamaican-born American stage actor and theatrical manager, born Moritz (or Morris) W. Morris. He was best known for his portrayal of Mephistopheles in his own production of Faust, which he performed from 1885 to 1906. He was the father of actress Adrienne Morrison, and grandfather of Constance, Barbara and Joan Bennett.[1][2]
Biography
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Lewis_Morrison%2C_stage_actor_%28SAYRE_7017%29.jpg/170px-Lewis_Morrison%2C_stage_actor_%28SAYRE_7017%29.jpg)
Born Morris W. Morris, after the Civil War he became a stage actor using the name Lewis Morrison. He first performed in New Orleans beginning in minor roles with Edwin Booth and Charlotte Cushman until he was featured in larger parts. He became a well-known actor in New Orleans and moved on to the stage in New York, where he gained greater fame in Faust. He founded his own traveling theater troupe and traveled the world playing the role of Mephistopheles. [citation needed]
Personal life
[edit]Morrison was married first to Anglo-American actress Rose Wood. He was the father of actresses Rosabel Morrison and Adrienne Morrison; grandfather of actresses Constance, Barbara and Joan Bennett; and great-grandfather of television talk show host Morton Downey Jr.
Morrison and Rose Wood were divorced in 1890. He married the much younger stage actress Florence Roberts in 1892.
References
[edit]- ^ Berlin, Ira; Reidy, Joseph P.; Rowland, Leslie S., eds. (1982). Freedom: Series II: The Black Military Experience: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861–1867 (Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation 1861–1867). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780521229845.
- ^ Bennett, Joan; Lois Kibbee (1970). The Bennett Playbill. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 978-0-03-081840-0. OCLC 100769.
Sources
[edit]- "An Actress Seeks a Divorce". The New York Times. May 9, 1886.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- portrait gallery (NY Public library, Billy Rose collection)
- 1844 births
- 1906 deaths
- 19th-century Jamaican people
- Jamaican emigrants to the United States
- 19th-century American male actors
- American male stage actors
- Jewish American male actors
- 19th-century American Jews
- Jews from Louisiana
- Jews from New York (state)
- Jamaican people of Jewish descent
- American theatre actor, 19th-century birth stubs