46 Facts About Charles Warner

Charles Warner performed in the principal theatres in London during the period 1864 to 1887.

Charles Warner had a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand from December 1887 to June 1890, after which he returned to England.

In 1906 Charles Warner travelled to New York where he appeared on stage in several productions.

Charles Warner John Lickfold was born on 10 October 1846 in the central London district of Kensington, the third child of James Lickfold and Hannah.

Charles Warner's father worked as a straw-hat maker and seller.

Charles Warner later remarked: "It was there that I really learned my profession, the continual change of plays ensuring versalitity".

In 1864 Charles Warner made his debut on the London stage as 'Benvolio' in Romeo and Juliet at the Princess' Theatre in Oxford street.

In 1866 Warner was engaged for a three-year period by F B Chatterton at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane in London, performing in Shakesperean revivals with Samuel Phelps.

Amongst his other roles at the Lyceum, Charles Warner played the role of 'Orpheus' in Euripides' Medea.

Charles Warner then went to the Haymarket Theatre Royal for a year, playing in leading roles opposite Adelaide Neilson.

Charles Warner appeared as 'Henry Shore' in the drama, Jane Shore by W G Wills.

Charles Warner's role involved a "realistic presentment of the death of the wretched Coupeau from delirium tremens".

Charles Warner studied the causes and symptoms of the condition, "so that no element of reality should be wanting" in his performance.

Charles Warner played the role of Coupeau at the Princess' Theatre "for a year and three months without cessation".

Charles Warner later played it in revivals in London at the Adelphi, Princess' and Surrey theatres, and the Standard Theatre in Shoreditch.

At the time of his death in 1909 it was estimated that Charles Warner had performed the role of Coupeau in Drink "about 3,000 times" in various parts of the world.

Rather than face the prospect of being "shelved for several months", Charles Warner joined the company at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, in the Clerkenwell district of central London.

In late-January 1881 Charles Warner performed as 'Walter Lee' in Henry Pettitt's drama, Taken from Life.

Charles Warner directed productions and played a series of melodramatic roles at the Adelphi Theatre from March 1881 to June 1885.

In 1886 Charles Warner returned to the Vaudeville Theatre, managed by his friend Tom Thorne, where he performed in The Road to Ruin.

In December 1886 Warner returned to the Princess' Theatre, where he opened in H A Jones' The Noble Vagabond.

At that stage Charles Warner's engagement was to be for six weeks only.

Charles Warner was involved in several of the sequences, including the second act of Romeo and Juliet.

Charles Warner performed with others in the sixth act of Drink.

However, once he had settled aboard the vessel, Charles Warner wrote that his "pleasure and delight grew as the voyage progressed".

On Saturday, 18 February 1888, Charles Warner made his debut on the Australian stage at Melbourne's Theatre Royal in Drink, the play "in which he achieved his great London success nearly nine years ago".

Charles Warner later remarked that the production of Drink in Melbourne was staged "as lavishly as in London" and he paid "a warm tribute to the discriminating enthusiasm of the typical colonial audience".

In June 1888 Charles Warner wrote: "Since my arrival the few spare moments that I have been able to snatch from rehearsals I have devoted to the kindly invitations of my many new friends in Melbourne, and I say it from my heart, that a more congenial, delightful, and hospitable people it would be impossible to encounter".

From Brisbane Charles Warner's company travelled to Adelaide for a "most brilliant and successful" five-week season at the Theatre Royal.

The Williamson, Garner and Musgrove Dramatic Company that had been supporting Charles Warner was disbanded and Charles Warner set about forming and rehearsing a new company.

Williamson, Garner and Musgrove had contemplated closing the theatre, but Charles Warner rescued the situation by offering to perform Captain Swift at the Princess' Theatre for two weeks, despite a previous arrangement to perform with his new company at Ballarat during that period.

In May 1890 Charles Warner played 'Old Tom' in the revival of Dion Boucicault's melodrama, After Dark, at Melbourne's Theatre Royal.

Charles Warner had been initially engaged for a six-week tour of Australia, soon afterwards extended to sixteen weeks, but he ended up remaining in the country for two years and six months.

Later Charles Warner revived roles for which he was known, such as Drink and It Is Never Too Late to Mend.

In 1891 Charles Warner played the title role in a stage version of The Count of Monte Christo at the Avenue Theatre in London.

In May 1895 it was reported that Charles Warner had been "touring in the English provinces", performing a play called Under the Mask.

In late-January 1903 Charles Warner performed in A Snug Little Kingdom, a three-act comedy by Mark Ambient, at the Royalty Theatre in Soho.

In September 1906 Charles Warner appeared in Herbert Beerbohm Tree's production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, at London's His Majesty's Theatre.

Charles Warner arrived in New York in late 1906 to work and to visit his son Henry, who had been establishing a career on the American stage.

In December 1906 Charles Warner appeared in vaudeville performances at the Alhambra Theatre in Harlem, New York.

Charles Warner hoped to arrange an American tour of Drink and other plays, but this did not eventuate.

Charles Warner became accustomed to playing cards at The Lambs Club, a social club associated with theatrical professions in West 44th Street, and reading in the club's library.

On 11 February 1909 Charles Warner took his own life in a room of the Hotel Seymour in Manhattan, New York, aged 62 years.

Charles Warner was found suspended from a hook on the door of his room.

Charles Warner left cash "for the payment of his board and funeral expenses".

Charles Warner was reported to be insane when he committed suicide.