WALLACK, JAMES WILLIAM Anglo American actor and manager, born in London Aug. 24, 1795. His parents and their four children were all actors of merit. From 1807 to 1818 he appeared chiefly at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. Between 1818 and 1852 he frequently crossed and re crossed the Atlantic, playing alternate engagements at London and New York. He settled in New York permanently in 1852 and opened the first Wallack's Theatre at the corner of Broadway and Broome streets. Here he remained with a notable company until 1861 and then removed to the second Wallack's Theatre which he himself built at 13th Street and Broadway. His was the best-known house in the city. Thackeray praises his Shylock, and Joseph Jefferson, his Don Caesar de Bazan. He married the daughter of John H. Johnstone, a comedian long popular in Eng land.
Their son, JOHN LESTER WALLACK, was born in New York City Jan. I, 1820. After playing on the Dublin and London stage
he made his first New York appearance in 1847 at the Broadway Theatre. He played here two years, then at the Bowery, Niblo's Garden, Brougham's Lyceum, and finally, beginning in 1852, in leading parts at his father's theatre. He succeeded to the manage ment of Wallack's Theatre in 1861, continuing it in the traditions of his father. In 1882 he opened the third Wallack's Theatre at 3oth street and Broadway. He afterwards conducted both theatres with marked success until his death, Sept. 6, 1888, at Stamford, Conn. He had one of the largest repertoires of any American actor, and showed particular aptitude for light comedy and roman tic parts. He wrote his own Memories of Fifty Years (1889).