Charles Wyndham (actor)

Sir Charles Wyndham (23 March 1837 – 12 January 1919), né Charles Culverwell, was an English actor and theatre proprietor. Wyndham's Theatre in London is named after him, and he also built the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) nearby.

Wyndham's family intended him for a medical career, and he studied medicine while enthusiastically engaging in amateur theatricals in his spare time. Torn between medicine and the stage, he spent three years in the US as a surgeon in the Union army in the American Civil War and on two occasions acted unsuccessfully on the New York stage. After returning to Britain and establishing himself as an actor he made further trips to the US between 1882 and 1910, playing in theatres all around the country.

In London, Wyndham became known for his comic skills, both in light comedy and farce. He took over the management of the Criterion Theatre in 1876 and remained in charge there for more than 20 years. "Criterion farce" became a familiar feature of the West End theatre, usually risqué French pieces toned down to avoid shocking the Victorian British audience. Later, Wyndham was known for his appearances in period costume dramas, most of all T. W. Robertson's David Garrick, which he revived frequently. Among the authors who wrote for him were W. S. Gilbert, F. C. Burnand and Henry Arthur Jones. Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest with Wyndham in mind, but circumstances prevented him from playing in it.

Wyndham commissioned two London theatres, both designed by W. G. R. Sprague: Wyndham's, opened in 1899, and the New, which opened four years later. He retired in 1913, and died at his London house in 1919, aged 81.