Julia Arthur - Early Life

Early Life

Born Ida Lewis in Hamilton, Ontario, May 3, 1869, she was the daughter of Thomas J. Lewis, a tobacco manufacturer, and Elizabeth (Arthur) Lewis. Her younger sister, Eleanor Letitia Lewis, became an actress known by the stage name, "Eleanor Dorel." Their mother was a fine Shakesperian reader, but only in an amateur way.

Ida Lewis began acting at the age of 11, in 1879, when she played the part of Gamora in The Honeymoon in some amateur theatricals in her own home. She displayed such remarkable ability, for her age, that a brilliant future for her was predicted. She made her first professional appearance in 1880 with the Daniel E. Bandmann repertoire company, as the Prince of Wales in Richard III and thenceforth she was before the public as Julia Arthur, using the first name of Julia and her mother's maiden name. Her first New York success was at the Union Square Theatre in The Black Masque.

At the age of 12, in 1881, she became the leading woman, playing Ophelia, Juliet, Portia, Lady Macbeth, Lady Anne in Richard III, and other important roles, and remained with the Bandmann company until 1884. A year of study in Germany followed. Upon her return in 1885 she joined a repertoire company in California, playing the leading female roles in a number of modern plays, among them the Galley Slave, Called Back, Two Orphans, Woman Against Woman, Captain Swift, Colleen Bawn, Arrah na Pogue, Jim the Penman, The Silver King, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Still Alarm, Peril, Divroce, and The Private Secretary.

She performed in London, February, 1895, with Sir Henry Irving's Company, as Rosamond in Tennyson's Becket. Subsequently she toured with Sir Henry Irving's Company in the United States. She performed in Frances Hodgson Burnett's play, A Lady of Quality.