E. J. Lonnen

Edwin Jesse "E. J." Lonnen (1860 – 31 October 1901) was an English actor, comedian and singer known for his performances in musical burlesques, operettas and musical comedies, particularly at the Gaiety Theatre, London at the end of the Victorian era.

Lonnen began acting as a child in pantomime and other theatre in the British provinces. He made his London debut in 1885 and appeared in several of the famous Gaiety burlesques from 1887 to 1891. He starred in such other major works as Little Christopher Columbus (1893), Baron Golosh (1895) and The Messenger Boy (1900) before dying at the age of 41.

Lonnen was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire into a theatrical family. His father William Rooles Lonnen (1833–1890) was an actor-manager, well known in the provinces under his stage name, Champion. Lonnen appeared in his father's productions from an early age. "I have a distinct recollection of playing a speaking part in a pantomime when I was five years old. I have been the baby in East Lynne; Prince Arthur – in fact I have played the whole round of juvenile parts." As a teenager, Lonnen acted for Harry Wright's "booth" company of travelling players, and shortly before he was 20, he was engaged to appear with Barry Sullivan, and then with Edward Terry playing Tootles in Weak Woman and the Dougal Creature in Robbing Roy. He made a hit in a Liverpool pantomime with Frank Emery, who engaged him for his burlesque company for a provincial tour that brought him to wider attention.

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