Willie Edouin

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Willie Edouin (1 January 1846[1] – 14 April 1908) was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager.

After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewhere, Edouin moved to America, where he joined

Edwardian musical comedies, including Florodora
.

Early years

Edouin was born in

Edouin family children played in pantomimes at the Strand Theatre. In 1857, Edouin's parents took the family on a six-year tour of Australia, India, China and Japan. In 1863, Edouin and his sister Rose Edouin played in Fawcett's stock company at the Princess's Theatre, Melbourne, in burlesque.[2]

Edouin moved to the United States in 1869, where he first appeared with

H. B. Farnie, of Bluebeard, The Princess of Trébizonde! St. George and the Dragon! The Forty Thieves, Lurline, Robin Hood, Mephisto and the Fourscore, and others.[4] He earned particular praise in Robinson Crusoe, for his acrobatics and clowning as Friday, and in Bluebeard, for his portrayal of Chinaman Washee-Washee. He returned to England with Thompson in 1874 and repeated the latter role in London that year. Edouin continued to perform with the troupe both in London and on tour in Britain for three seasons.[2]

In 1877, Edouin returned with Thompson to New York. He soon appeared with Colville's Folly Company, an American farce-comedy troupe, and then with

The Lost Children and Horrors. In 1880 he formed his own company, Willie Edouin's Sparks, co-authoring and starring in a successful farce, Dreams.[4] In 1881, Edouin purchased a photo gallery in Philadelphia but sold it the following year.[5]

Later years

The Little Michus

Edouin returned to England in 1884, partnering with

H. J. Byron's Victorian burlesque Aladdin, or the Wonderful Scamp, in 1888 as Widow Twankay,[6] There he produced Katti, the Family Help, starring himself and his wife. In 1889, however, he managed Our Flat at the Opera Comique, in which he was popular as Nathaniel Glover. The play ran for nearly 600 nights. At the Strand in the early 1890s, he continued to manage and appear in comedies. In 1894, he had another success as Jeremiah Grubb in The Jerry Builder, by Melford, in which his daughter May débuted.[2]

Edouin appeared in a number of very successful

The Little Michus (1905), The Blue Moon and The Little Cherub.[3]

In 1906, Edouin toured in Britain and then returned to the United States in 1907, playing in vaudeville. By this time, however, he was losing his mental acuteness and decided to return to London. Although a very successful comedian, Edouin did not fare well as a manager and left a small estate.[2] During his career, Edouin portrayed as many as five hundred characters.[3]

Edouin died in 1908, aged 62,[1] and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.[7]

Family

Edouin married Alice Atherton; they had two daughters, Daisy and May, who each became actresses.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Edouin's New York Times obituary says 1841
  2. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32973. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ^ a b c "Willie Edouin Dead", The New York Times, 15 April 1908, p. 9
  4. ^ a b Bordman, Gerald and Thomas S. Hischak. "Edouin, (William Frederick) Willie", The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 2004, Oxford University Press
  5. ^ "Willie Edouin's Photograph Gallery", The New York Times, 9 February 1882, p. 1
  6. ^ "Our Omnibus-Box", The Theatre, 21 October 1888, p. 220
  7. ^ Listing of notable people buried at Kensal Green
  8. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Edouin, Willie" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

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