William J. Wilson (1874 – March 2, 1936) was a Scottish theatre director, choreographer, stage manager, and stage and film actor active in the United States and the United Kingdom. From 1910-1914 and again from 1925-1927 he worked as a stage director and choreographer for the Shubert family of Broadway producers. He also staged works on London's West End.
Born in Scotland in 1874,[1] William J. Wilson made his Broadway debut in 1902 as Lopez in Gustav Luders's King Dodo.[2] He directed his first Broadway production in 1910, a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, at the Casino Theatre.[3] It was the first of many shows that he would direct for producers and brothers Lee, Sam S., and Jacob J. Shubert over the next four and a half years; some of which he also choreographed. Other works he directed for the Shubert family on Broadway include Up and Down Broadway (1910),[4] La Belle Paree (1911, also as choreographer),[5] Bow-Sing (1911),[5] The Kiss Waltz (1911),[6] The Never Homes (1911),[7] The Duchess (1911),[8] Vera Violetta (1911),[9] The Wedding Trip (1911),[10] The Pirates of Penzance (1912), Under Many Flags (1912),[11] The Dove of Peace (1912),[12] The Man with Three Wives (1913),[13] The Beggar Student (1913), H.M.S. Pinafore (1913 and again in 1914), Iolanthe (1913), All Aboard (1913),[14] America (1913),[15] The Pleasure Seekers (1913),[16] The Whirl of the World (1914),[17] and Wars of the World (1914).[18]
In January 1915, while working on staging a circus production at the New York Hippodrome for the Schuberts, a dispute with J.J. Schubert arose which ended Wilson's employment with the Schubert company along with the employment of the Hippodrome's general director Arthur Voegtlin and musical director Manuel Klein.[19] At the time of the firing, these men were described in The New York Times as " the best-known and highest-salaried men in their branch of the theatrical profession".[19]
After leaving the Schuberts, Wilson staged the 1916 musical The Road to Mandalay, and then did not return to Broadway again for another decade.[20] In 1925 he was once again working for the Schuberts; directing the 1925 musical Mayflowers.[21] This was followed by staging two final productions for the Schubert family, The Wild Rose (1926)[22] and Oh, Ernest! (1927).[23] Wilson worked briefly as a silent film actor, appearing in the films America (1914) and The Inevitable Penalty (1915).[24]
Wilson also worked as a theatre director and producer in London's West End. In 1921 he directed the UK premiere of the Frank Mandel, Otto Harbach, and Louis Hirsch musical Mary at the Queen's Theatre.[25] In 1925 he directed The Gipsy Princess at the Prince of Wales Theatre.[26] In 1930 he directed the musical revue De La Folie Pure by Noel Scott and Charles Austin at the Victoria Palace Theatre.[27] In 1933 he produced the musical The Only Girl at the Hippodrome, London; a work co-created by Frank Eyton, Clifford Grey, and Herbert C. Sargent with music by Vincent Youmans.[28] In 1934 he directed The Rose of Persia at the Princes Theatre.[29]
Wilson died on March 2, 1936, in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1]