William Terriss (20 February 1847 - 16 December 1897), born as William
Charles James Lewin, was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero
roles, such as Robin Hood. He was also a notable Shakespearian performer and
father of the Edwardian musical comedy star Ellaline Terriss.
Athletic as a child, Terriss briefly joined the merchant service and tried
several professions abroad before returning to London. Adapting the stage
name William Terriss, he made his first appearance in the West End at the
old Prince of Wales's Theatre as Lord Cloudrays in Tom Robertson's Society
in 1871. The same year, he had major success in Robin Hood and Rebecca and
quickly established himself as one of Britain's most popular actors. In
1880, he joined Henry Irving's company at the Lyceum Theatre, appearing in
Shakespeare plays.
In 1885, he met 24-year-old Jessie Millward, with whom he starred in The
Harbour Lights (by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt). They became lovers and
toured Britain and America together. Terriss played the hero parts in
Adelphi melodramas from the late 1880s, among other roles. In 1897, he was
stabbed to death by a deranged actor, Richard Archer Prince, outside the
stage door of the Adelphi Theatre, where he was appearing. Terriss's ghost
is supposed to haunt the Covent Garden tube station and the Adelphi Theatre.
Terriss's real name was William Charles James Lewin. He was born in London
and educated at Bruce Castle School, Tottenham, where he was a friend of J.
Comyns Carr and Frederick Selous. Carr later wrote of Terriss's school days
that "if he gained but little learning, he at any rate acquired a perfect
mastery in the art of tree-climbing". Terriss then studied at Jesus College,
Oxford, without taking a degree. He loved the adventurous, outdoor life. He
married Isabel Lewis (stage name Amy Fellowes) in 1870 and had a daughter,
Ellaline, who became a very well known actress in Edwardian musical comedy,
together with her husband, the actor-manager Seymour Hicks. He also had a
son, Tom, who became a well-known film director, writer and actor.
After trying the merchant service, silver mining in America, medicine,
sheep-farming in the Falkland Islands, and tea-planting in Bengal, he
returned to England and took to the stage, adopting the stage-name William
Terriss, where his handsome presence, fine voice and gallant bearing made
him popular. Because of his swashbuckling style, he became famous in hero
parts and was known as "Breezy Bill". His first appearance in London was as
Lord Cloudrays in Tom Robertson's Society, in 1871, at the old Prince of
Wales's Theatre.
In 1871, also, Terriss had a major success in Robin Hood and in Rebecca,
based on Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Over the next few years he established
himself as one of Britain's most popular actors. In 1880 he joined Henry
Irving's company at the Lyceum Theatre, playing such parts as Cassio in
Othello and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and in 1895 he acted there with
Mary Anderson, for example, as Romeo to her Juliet. Terriss and Irving
became close friends. Terriss also became close with his neighbor, George
Bernard Shaw.
In December 1885, Terriss met 24-year-old Jessie Millward, with whom he
starred in The Harbour Lights (by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt), and the
pair established themselves as romantic leads together. They became lovers
and toured Britain and America together for some years. Terriss was then
engaged to take the hero parts in Adelphi melodramas, such as in The Bells
of Haslemere (1887), and it was in this capacity that for the rest of his
career he was best known, though he occasionally acted elsewhere, notably
with Irving at the Lyceum Theatre. In 1895, Terris starred in a drama called
One of the Best, inspired by the famous Dreyfus Trial. Terriss's son-in-law,
Seymour Hicks, wrote the piece at the suggestion of the playwright W. S.
Gilbert. Terriss's last appearance was in the play Secret Service.
On 16 December 1897, as he was entering the Adelphi Theatre to prepare for
the evening's performance of Secret Service, Terriss was stabbed to death by
a deranged and disgruntled actor, Richard Archer Prince.[ He had helped the
struggling younger actor to find work in various productions that he had a
hand in. However, Prince had, over the years, increasingly abused alcohol
and become mentally unstable. During the run of The Harbour Lights, in which
Prince had a minor role, Terriss took offence to something that Prince had
said about him and had Prince dismissed. Terriss, however, sent small sums
of money to Prince, via the Actors' Benevolent Fund, and continued to try to
find him acting work. By the end of 1897, Prince was destitute and desperate
for work, but he had become unemployable. On 13 December, Prince was
forcibly ejected from the foyer of the Vaudeville Theatre, and he and
Terriss were seen to argue the next night in Terriss's dressing room in the
Adelphi Theatre. On the day of the murder, Prince asked for money at the
Fund's office but was told that his request could not be considered that
day. Apparently, he crossed the street and waited for Terriss at Terriss's
entrance to the Adelphi.
The murder became a sensation in the London press. The trial was not
satisfactory, as Prince made the most of his new notoriety. Prince was found
guilty but insane and sent to Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, where he
died in 1936. His relatively mild sentence was met with anger by the
theatrical community, and Sir Henry Irving was later quoted as saying that "Terriss
was an actor, so his murderer will not be executed."
The murder is dramatised in the Sherlock Holmes BBC Radio 4 play The Star of
the Adelphi broadcast in 2002.
Terriss is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. A lifeboat house was built
in 1898 on Eastbourne seafront in memory of Terriss. It still stands there
with a memorial plaque. There is also a plaque on the wall by the stage door
of the Adelphi Theatre recording the event of the murder.
A portrait of William Terriss hangs in the stairwell of Denville Hall, the
home for retired Actors and Actresses in Northwood, London, England. The
home is run by The Actors' Charitable Trust. Henry Irving was the first
President of the organization until his death in 1905.
Legend has it that Terriss's ghost haunts the Covent Garden tube station and
the Adelphi Theatre. A 2005 Channel 5 documentary in the UK on ghosts on the
London Underground reported that a ghost has been seen many times, at the
Covent Garden tube station, identified from a photograph as Terriss. This
ghost is reported to have been seen many times, though sightings have
lessened over the years. A 2008 documentary, Ghosts on the Underground
produced by The History Channel, mentions a recent sighting of Terriss at
the Covent Garden Underground station.