Early life in
Vanity Fair, 1893 Penley was born at
St Peters,
Broadstairs, Kent, the only son of William George Robinson Penley (1823–1903), a schoolmaster, and his first wife, Emily Ann,
née Wooton, the widow of Walter Pilcher. Although Penley's relatives included the painter
Aaron Edwin Penley, his family was more generally associated with the theatre. His great-grandfather, William (1773–1838), a comedian at
Drury Lane, was the first in a theatrical line that included Sampson (1792–1838) actor-manager at the Theatre Royal,
Windsor, and Thomas Turpin Belville (1805–93), a theatre manager in
Bath. He was a chorister at the
Chapel Royal and at
Westminster Abbey. After an apprenticeship with a
City firm of
milliners he joined the staff of Copestake, Moore, Crampton & Co, wholesale
drapers and
mercers. His obituarist in
The Times speculated that Penley's career in retail may have been cut short by an irrepressible sense of humour ill-suited to a serious commercial concern. and performed at the Holborn Theatre in
Hervé's
operetta Doctor Faust. Among the cast of
Zampa was
Selina Dolaro, whose company Penley joined under the management of
Richard D'Oyly Carte at the
Royalty Theatre in London and on tour, in 1875. He played one of the two notaries in
Offenbach's La Périchole, and was in the chorus of its companion piece,
Gilbert and Sullivan's
Trial by Jury. In November of that year he was promoted to the role of the Foreman of the Jury in the latter work when it returned to the Royalty. Penley was considered to be an important addition in the small role, with his malleable comic features. Penley gained increasing prominence during 1876 in supporting roles in Offenbach's
Geneviève de Brabant, and ''
Madame l'archiduc'', and
W. S. Gilbert and
Frederic Clay's
comic opera Princess Toto. The last of these was staged at the Strand, where Penley remained for three years under the management of Ada Swanborough, appearing mostly in burlesque. He then rejoined D'Oyly Carte, playing Sir Joseph Porter in
H.M.S. Pinafore on tour in 1879. The theatrical newspaper
The Era said of him, "Mr. W. S. Penley seems to be designed both by nature and art for the onerous part of the 'First Lord', the mock dignity of whose 'official' utterances Mr. Penley brings out splendidly." In March 1880 he appeared at the
Gaiety Theatre, London as Matthew Popperton in the extravaganza
La voyage en Suisse, with the
Hanlon-Lees comic acrobatic troupe. When the troupe went to the US, Penley accompanied them. and at the
Comedy Theatre in October 1882 as Derrick Van Slous in
Rip Van Winkle. Continuing to rise to more important parts, Penley made a great success as Brother Pelican in
Falka (1883), and in 1884 came what
The Times called "his first triumph", as the Rev Robert Spalding in
The Private Secretary at the Globe Theatre. He succeeded
Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the role, and was famous for his portrayal of it for many years. The provincial production was a success, and Penley then produced the play in London at the Royalty in December 1892, after which it transferred to the larger Globe in 1893. ''Charley's Aunt
became an unprecedented hit, running for 1,466 performances in London, a record that lasted for decades. The original run finally ended in December 1896, but the play was revived several times. The Times'' commented that it was probable that although the "long runs filled his pockets, [they] broke his strength". In 1900 Penley had the
Novelty Theatre, London rebuilt, renaming it the Great Queen Street Theatre. He starred in revivals of
The Private Secretary and ''Charley's Aunt
later that year, and retired from acting in 1901. He continued to manage the Great Queen Street Theatre until 1907. He was a staunch member of the Church of England, and was one of the proprietors of The Church Family Newspaper''. ==Notes==