Lewis Morrison

Black and Jewish Jamaican-American actor (1844–1906)

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]

Morrison as Mephistopheles in Faust

Personal life

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..^{[citation needed]}

Morrison and Rose Wood were divorced in 1890. He married the much younger stage actress Florence Roberts in 1892.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. 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.
2. Bennett, Joan; Lois Kibbee (1970). The Bennett Playbill. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 978-0-03-081840-0. OCLC 100769.

Sources

• "An Actress Seeks a Divorce". The New York Times. May 9, 1886.

External links

• portrait gallery (NY Public library, Billy Rose collection)