Frank Wyatt

Who was Frank Wyatt?

Frank Wyatt was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright.

After beginning his career as an illustrator and painter, in 1877, Wyatt began a stage career in comedy, Victorian burlesque, pantomime and operetta. In 1884, he had success in a Shakespeare role in Henry Irving's company, and in 1885, he created the role of Ravennes in the comic opera Erminie, which went on to become an international sensation. In this production, he met Violet Melnotte, who also appeared in Erminie and who managed the theatre where it premiered; they married in 1886.

In his more than two-decade career on stage, Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit comic opera The Gondoliers. Wyatt continued to perform in comic operas and comedies until about 1900. From the 1890s, Wyatt and his wife owned and managed the Trafalgar Square Theatre, known after 1895 as the Duke of York's Theatre. He also wrote plays and a grand opera.