Hugh J. Ward

Hugh Joseph Ward (24 June 1871 – 21 April 1941) was an American-born stage actor who had a substantial career in Australia as comic actor, dancer, manager and theatrical impresario.

Ward was born in Philadelphia in 1871, and arrived in Australia as an actor, first appearing in June 1899 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney in the Hoyt – McKee company's production of A Stranger in New York, which toured extensively throughout Australia to rave reviews. The company returned to America after playing New Zealand in February 1900, all except Ward, who had been offered a contract by J. C. Williamson. He visited London in 1903, playing at Drury Lane with the Arthur Collins company, played at New York for the notorious Klaw and Erlanger, then returned to Australia in 1906. He produced a number of plays for George Willoughby. In 1909 he formed a company of his own, which toured India, Burma and China for Allan Hamilton and, reportedly, displayed a gift for publicity stunts by faking the abduction of a princess, before returning to Australia, where he is made his "last appearance on stage" on 4 March 1910, in a revival of The Man from Mexico, though Melba-like, he made another farewell appearance in The Girl from Rector's in Brisbane in March 1911.

He joined "The Firm" of J. C. Williamson in 1908, for whom he worked with considerable success as a managing director. On the death of Williamson in July 1913 he became chairman of directors. He announced his resignation in March 1922 to form his own management business, Hugh J. Ward Theatres. Ltd., in association with the Fuller brothers.

He was a notable fundraiser for patriotic causes during the First World War, and in recognition of his aid to Belgium he was made Knight of the Order of Leopold II. He became a naturalised Australian in 1922, and his obituaries report him as receiving an OBE, though he had hoped for a knighthood, but this is hard to verify and must surely be fictitious. He retired from the theatre in September 1926, but maintained a high public profile until shortly before his death of heart failure in 1941.

...
Wikipedia