MR. CHARLES WYNDHAM was, at eighteen, the age at which our first
portrait represents him, a medical student at Liverpool, at which city
he was born; but having taken his degrees of L.R.C.S. and L.S.A., he
went, at twenty-one, to America, and made his first appearance as an
actor at Washington, with John Wilkes Booth, to whose _Hamlet_ he played
_Osric_. Booth, who perhaps was never wholly sane, and who three years
later made himself a name of world-wide infamy by shooting President
Lincoln in a theatre-box, saw so little sign of genius in the new actor
that he discharged him for incompetency. Mr. Wyndham then served as
surgeon to the 19th Army Corps, and was present at some of the most
deadly battles of the Civil War. His appearance at that time was that of
our second portrait, which represents him in his uniform. Two years
later, on his return to England, he again went on the boards, and
entered at once upon the career which has long been recognised as that
of the finest light comedian at present on the stage.
[Illustration: _From a_] AGE 18. [_Miniature._]
[Illustration: _From a Photo, by_] AGE 22. [_Purviance, New
York._]
[Illustration: _From a Photo, by_] PRESENT DAY. [_Vernon
Heath._]