Morris W. Morris

Who was Morris W. Morris?

Lewis Morrison was a Jamaican-born American stage actor, born Morris W. Morris, who was best known for his longtime performance as "Mephistopheles" in "Faust". Morris was of English, Spanish, Jewish, and African ancestry.

He served in the United States Army in the Louisiana Native Guards during the Civil War. Officers of the Guard, based in New Orleans, was composed of free black soldiers from New Orleans and the surrounding area. Morris was their lieutenant. During the beginning of the Civil War, the Louisiana Guard promptly switched allegiances to the Union, and its soldiers became the first black officers in the Union Army.

After the Civil War, he became a stage actor first performing in New Orleans beginning in minor roles with Edwin Booth and Charlotte Cushman until he was featured in larger parts. He became a well-known actor in New Orleans and moved on to the stage in New York, where he gained greater fame in "Faust". He founded his own traveling theater troupe and traveled the world playing the role of Mephistopheles in Faust.