William Alexander Andrews (21 July 1836 – 28 September 1878), sometimes referred to as "Billy Andrews", was an Australian comic actor, who had a short career but was immensely popular, and like

G. V. Brooke Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (25 April 1818 – 11 January 1866), commonly referred to as G. V. Brooke, was an Irish stage actor who enjoyed success in Ireland, England and Australia. Early life Brooke was born in Dublin, Ireland, the eldest son of ...

, became the yardstick by which later comedians were judged.

History

Andrews was born at 64 George Street, Sydney, "opposite the Central Police Station", a son of Alexander Andrews and Hebe Andrews, née Chippendale (1815–1874), who married 17 May 1834. Notable roles include: *Felix O'Callaghan in ''His Last Legs'' (1865) also played by his brother Alex. *Baillie Nichol Jarvie in ''Rob Roy'' (1869) *the mock Duke in ''Honeymoon'' (1868) *"Perkyn Middlewick" in ''Our Boys'' (1878) *"Deacon Skinner" in ''Struck Oil'' (1875) *"Scrubs" in ''Rory O'More'', his last appearance, which he played for two nights at the Sydney Queen's Theatre, but was practically inaudible, and died three weeks later of Bright's disease at his home in Liverpool Street, Woolloomooloo. His wife, brother and sister were with him at the end. Criticism of his work is hard to find — apart from being cast as the '' Artful Dodger'' in ''Oliver Twist'', which part should have gone to a much smaller man. In other productions he played ''

Mr Bumble Mr. Bumble is a fictional character and minor antagonist in the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. Character When the story was first serialised in ''Bentley's Miscellany'' in 1837 Mr. Bumble is the cruel and self-important bead ...

''.

Family

Andrews was married and had three children by a previous marriage: *eldest daughter (born 22 April 1866), no details yet found *William Inglewood Andrews (c. 1863 – 13 August 1885) *Elizabeth Andrews (c. 3 June 1869 – 3 February 1887) His brother Alec Andrews (1845 – 3 January 1895) was also a comedian; he had a sister at 70

Albion Street, Surry Hills Albion Street is a street in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It runs east-west from Elizabeth Street to Flinders Street, and is approximately one kilometre long. The street is notable fo ...

, and another brother, James, about whom little has been found. His widow remarried and lived in Melbourne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, William A. 1836 births 1878 deaths Colony of New South Wales people 19th-century Australian male actors Deaths from nephritis