Early years Warde was born in
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in the east of England, the second son and third child of William Warde (died 1859), a professional dancer, actor and author and director of the Winchester
music hall in south London. Warde's older siblings were John and Emma, both of whom were also dancers. Warde followed his father's profession, and joined a dance troupe led by his brother-in-law
John D'Auban (who choreographed many
W. S. Gilbert works and had married Warde's sister Emma in 1871), with whom he appeared in 1878. In 1886, Warde was choreographer for
Ivan Caryll's
The Lily of Leoville at the
Comedy Theatre. By 1888, Warde was appearing as an actor.
Charles Hawtrey cast him in a
burlesque of
Atalanta at the
Strand Theatre with
Frank Wyatt and Tom Squire. For the next twenty years, Warde maintained a dual career as choreographer and actor, as the Victorian musical theatre evolved from burlesque into
Edwardian musical comedy. Away from the West End, he also occasionally undertook the stage direction of musical shows in the provinces.
Acting career and
Phyllis Dare executing Warde's choreography in
The Sunshine Girl For the Christmas season of 1889, Warde appeared at the
Avenue Theatre in
The Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1891, he played the Bishop of Bovril in a burlesque entitled
Joan of Arc, or the Merry Maid of Orleans (by
Adrian Ross and J. L. Shine), under the management of
George Edwardes. Warde participated in many of Edwardes's hit musical productions for more than twenty years thereafter, both as actor and choreographer.
The Messenger Boy (1900) and
The Toreador (1901). When Edwardes moved to
Daly's Theatre, Warde appeared in
A Country Girl (1902),
The Little Michus (1905),
The Dollar Princess (1909),
A Waltz Dream (1910), and
The Count of Luxembourg (1911). Of Warde's performance in
A Waltz Dream,
The Times wrote, "Mr Willie Warde's few, almost surreptitious, steps made Tantalus of us all. Mr Willie Warde without a dance is like a hired Christmas cake that is to be looked at, not eaten",
Choreography The term "choreographer" was not generally used at the time of Warde's career. Theatre programmes usually read, "The dances arranged by ...". Shows for which Warde arranged the dances included the burlesques
Little Jack Sheppard (1885), in which he also appeared, and
Cinder Ellen up too Late (1891). In 1889, he arranged the dances for the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for
Gilbert and Sullivan's
The Gondoliers. The musical comedies that he choreographed included
A Gaiety Girl (1893);
The Shop Girl (1894);
The Geisha (1896);
A Greek Slave (1898);
A Gaiety Girl (revival, 1899);
The Lucky Star at the
Savoy Theatre (1899);
San Toy (1900);
Three Little Maids (1902);
The Duchess of Dantzic (1903); and
The Cingalee (1904), in which he also appeared. He also arranged the dances for the hit English première of
The Merry Widow (1907)
Later years After
World War I, Warde played character roles in comedy, appearing in
Tons of Money in 1922. This was
filmed in 1930, with Warde reprising his stage role of Giles. He later appeared with
Seymour Hicks in
Ferenc Molnár's
The Guardsman in 1925. Hicks called Warde "One of the greatest artists I have ever met in my life. ... His pantomime was of the simplest but perfection." In retirement, he took part in a
BBC radio history of George Edwardes and the Gaiety in 1938, along with Hicks and
Ellaline Terriss. Warde died in London at the age of 86. ==Notes==