Frederic Lewis Tuffley (23 October 1855 – 1 April 1935), better known by his stage name, Eric Lewis, was an English comedian, actor and singer. In a career spanning five decades, he starred in numerous comedies and in a few musical comedy hits, but he is probably best remembered today as the understudy to George Grossmith in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas of the 1880s who left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company just in time to give Henry Lytton his big break.

Lewis began performing in comic musical sketches in Brighton in the 1870s. He made his London performing debut in 1880 and joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1882, where he understudied Grossmith until 1887. Lewis then performed in a number of very successful musical comedies and other comedies for the next decade but devoted himself to the non-musical comedy stage, performing mostly in contemporary comedies by Arthur Wing Pinero, Bernard Shaw, J. M. Barrie and R. C. Carton until 1925.

Biography Lewis was born in Northampton and raised in Brighton.

Early career and D'Oyly Carte years Lewis made his first public appearance in comic musical sketches in local concert halls in Brighton in the late 1870s. He appeared at St. James's Hall in Brighton in October 1879 with Arthur Law and his wife Fanny Holland. By 1880, Lewis had begun presenting comic musical sketches at the Royal Polytechnic Institution and St. George's Hall, where he sometimes took the place of the comedian Corney Grain. In 1881, he made his London stage debut in Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at the Haymarket Theatre as Pilate Pump in Blue and Buff. In 1882, he joined the touring Alice Barth Opera Company, playing a number of roles with them.

Lewis joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in December 1882 as the understudy to George Grossmith in the principal comedian roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Grossmith was rarely ill or absent from the stage, however, and Lewis had very few chances to play the roles. His only substantial opportunity to play one of the principal comedian roles came when he played Ko-Ko in The Mikado during August and September 1886, during Grossmith's holiday.Stone, David. Eric Lewis at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 27 August 2001. Retrieved 9 January 2009

Lewis was, however, given several roles in the short curtain raisers that often were performed together with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In these he played Mr. Wranglesbury in Mock Turtles from December 1882 to March 1883, Napoleon Fitz-Stubbs in A Private Wire from March 1883 to January 1884, receiving warm notices, the Counsel to the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury from October 1884 to March 1885 and Piscator in The Carp from February 1886 to January 1887. The Carp enjoyed an unusually long run for a curtain raiser. So long, according to Lewis's colleague Rutland Barrington, that at the end of the piece one night, when Lewis, who played the angler, shouted out his joyful "I've caught it!" a voice from the gallery responded, "About time, too!"Barrington, Chapter 3 In June 1885, Lewis played together with Barrington in an afternoon "musical dialogue," Mad to Act, with words by Barrington and music by Wilfred Bendall, at the Japanese Village in Knightsbridge.

Frustrated by his position as understudy to an actor who had hardly ever taken ill in four years, Lewis resigned from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in January 1887. On 29 January 1887, one week after the opening of the new opera, Ruddigore, Grossmith did fall ill, and Henry Lytton, a young actor who was in the right place at the right time,Lytton (Secrets), chapter 2. Retrieved 9 January 2009 took Grossmith's role of Robin Oakapple until 18 February.The Times, 18 February 1887, p. 12, col. B.Lytton (Secrets), chapter 3. Retrieved 9 January 2009 Lytton went on to perform with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company until 1934, including 25 years as the company's principal comedian.Biography of Lytton at the Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte website . Retrieved 11 May 2008

Musicals and first comedies

Lewis was soon performing in the West End of London at the Royalty Theatre in April 1887 in Ivy, and in May in a comedy entitled A Tragedy. In June 1887, Lewis performed in a comedietta by Andrew Longmuir called Cleverly Managed. In July 1888, he starred in another comedietta, entitled Caught Out, by Florence Bright at St George's Hall In September of that year, he helped open the relocated New Court Theatre with a play by Sydney Grundy called Mamma, starring Mrs. John Wood and also featuring Arthur Cecil. In January 1889, he starred in The Begum's Diamonds by J. P. Hurst at the Avenue Theatre. In July of that year, he was back at the Court Theatre starring with Mrs. John Wood, Cecil and Weedon Grossmith in Aunt Jack, a farce by Ralph Lumley. The next year, he had his first big musical comedy success as the foppish Duke of Fayensburg in the successful operetta La Cigale, composed by Edmond Audran, at the Lyric Theatre. This ran from October 1890 to December 1891. The Duke was one of his finest roles, and the success of the piece owed much to his performance.

In 1892, he starred in A. G. Bagot's comedy The Widow at the Comedy Theatre."Comedy Theatre", The Times, 22 April 1892. p. 4 Later that year, he was well received in the role of the Duke in the early George Edwardes musical comedy In Town."Prince of Wales's Theatre", The Times, 17 October 1892, p. 13 Beginning in the next year, he starred as the ridiculed judge in the hit musical A Gaiety Girl."Prince of Wales's Theatre", The Times, 16 October 1893, p. 14 After the long run of that piece, in 1885 he was featured in another hit Edwardes musical, An Artist's Model."Daly's Theatre", The Times, 4 February 1895, p. 8 In 1896, he was in F. C. Burnand's Mrs Ponderbury at the Court Theatre with Mrs. John Wood, Charles Hawtrey and Brandon Thomas.The Observer, 1 March 1896, p. 4 Later in that year he appeared in A White Elephant, a farce by R. C. Carton at the Comedy Theatre"Comedy Theatre", The Times, 20 November 1896, p. 6 and another musical, Monte Carlo, at the Avenue Theatre. In 1897, he received praise in another long-running musical role in A French Maid."Terry's Theatre", The Times, 26 April 1897, p. 13 The same year, during the run of A French Maid at Terry's Theatre, he played in a series of matinees consisting of short musicals for children by Basil Hood and Walter Slaughter."Terry's Theatre", The Times, 24 December 1897, p. 6 After this, Lewis devoted himself to the legitimate stage for nearly the remainder of his long career.

In 1899, Lewis was back at the Court theatre in another Carton comedy, Wheels within Wheels."Court Theatre", The Times, 24 May 1899, p. 8 Later that year, still at the Court Theatre, he was praised for his performance in A Royal Family, written by Captain Marshall."Court Theatre", The Times, 16 October 1899, p. 2 In the new century, Lewis continued to be as busy as ever. The Times described him as "well-nigh indispensable to light comedy for the role of the elderly gentleman of breeding, with a streak of affable eccentricity in his nature." The paper remembered Lewis as follows:

Lewis was praised for his performances at the Criterion Theatre in the revival of another Marshall play, His Excellency the Governor,"Criterion Theatre", The Times, 15 February 1900, p. 5 and in Carton's Lady Huntworth's Experiment."Criterion Theatre", The Times, 27 April 1900, p. 4 In 1905, at St. James's Theatre, Lewis received more good notices as a cynical old busybody in the title role of Mollentrave on Women by Alfred Sutro."St. James's Theatre", The Times, 14 February 1905, p. 6 Looking back on this production almost 30 years later, The Times called Lewis's performance "perfect"."Mr. Alfred Sutro" (obituary), The Times, 13 September 1933, p. 12 The same year, he starred in George Bernard Shaw's Passion, Poison, and Petrifaction."The Actors' Orphanage Fund", The Times, 15 July 1905, p. 8 Later that year at the Haymarket Theatre, he starred in On the Love Path by C. M. S. McLellan."Haymarket Theatre", The Times, 7 September 1905, p. 4 The next year saw him in at the Duke of York's Theatre in All-Of-A-Sudden Peggy by Ernest Denny."Duke of York's Theatre; All-Of-A-Sudden Peggy", The Times, 28 February 1906, p. 8 and a revival of The Marriage of Kitty, both with Marie Tempest, with whom he appeared in many plays throughout his post-D'Oyly Carte career.The Times, 11 June 1906, p. 10 At the Criterion later in 1906, he took the title role in W. Kingsley Tarpey's The Amateur Socialist. The Times observed that Lewis "has a recipe all his own for serving up folly with elegance; and he kept the audience in an almost continuous chuckle of delight."The Times, 15 October 1906, p. 9 His last role that year was the fashionable Sir Ralph Bloomfield Bonington in The Doctor's Dilemma at the Royal Court Theatre. The Times later called this one of his best roles.

Later years

In 1907, he played in Shaw's The Philanderer at the Court TheatreThe Times, 17 January 1907, p. 8 and in Sutro's The Wails of Jericho at the Garrick Theatre."Garrick Theatre. The Wails of Jericho", The Times 5 June 1907, p. 12 The same year, at the St. James's, he starred in The 18th Century"St. James's Theatre. The 18th Century", The Times, 30 July 1907, p. 10 and Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal."St. James's Theatre. The School For Scandal", The Times, 16 September 1907, p. 10 That year he was invited to play in a royal command performance.The Times, 29 October 1907, p. 10 In 1908, he continued to receive praise, starring in The Admirable Crichton at the Duke of York's Theatre"Duke of York's Theatre. The Admirable Crichton", The Times, 3 March 1908, p. 10 and again as a judge in Lady Epping's Lawsuit at the Criterion."Criterion Theatre. Lady Epping's Lawsuit", The Times, 13 October 1908, p. 11 1909 opened with Lewis and Tempest in Penelope by Somerset Maugham at the Comedy Theatre."Theatrical Arrangements", The Times, 24 December 1908, p. 6 The following year, he appeared in The Naked Truth by George Paston and W. B. Maxwell at Wyndham's Theatre."Wyndham's Theatre. The Naked Truth", The Times, 15 April 1910, p. 12 In 1911, he played in Lady Patricia by Rudolf Bessier at the HaymarketThe Times, 13 March 1911, p. 10 and Lady Windermere's Fan (together with Marion Terry) at the St. James's.The Times, 10 October 1911, p. 6 The next year, Lewis appeared in Charles Brookfield's Dear Old Charlie at the Prince of Wales's TheatreThe Times, 19 February 1912, p. 12 and Mrs. Dane's Defence, by Henry Arthur Jones, at the New Theatre,"New Theatre. Mrs. Dane's Defence.", The Times, 17 May 1912, p. 10 In 1913, Lewis starred in H. V. Esmond's Eliza comes to Stay at the Criterion.The Times, 10 February 1913, p. 10 Also, at the Duke of York's he played in J. M. Barrie's The Adored OneThe Times, 10 September 1913, p. 8 and at the Royalty Theatre, C. B. Furnald's The Pursuit of Pamela.The Times, 5 November 1913, p. 10 The following year, he starred in The Blue Mouse by Alexander Engel and Julian Horst at the Criterion."The Blue Mouse", The Times, 13 May 1914, p. 10 a revival of Eliza Comes to Stay at the Vaudeville TheatreThe Times, 8 July 1914, p. 5 and Sir Richard's Biography by Wilfred T. Coleby at the Criterion. By this part of his career, reviewers were calling the parts that he played "Lewisian"."New Comedy at the Criterion", The Times, 2 October 1914, p. 11