William Gorman Wills

W. G. Wills
Portrait of W. G. Wills, c. 1898.
Born	William Gorman Wills (1828-01-28)28 January 1828 Kilmurry, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
Died	13 December 1891(1891-12-13) (aged 63) Guy's Hospital, London, UK
Nationality	Irish
Education	Trinity College, Dublin Royal Hibernian Academy
Occupation	Painter, playwright, poet
Known for	Ophelia and Laertes
Notable work	Charles I Faust
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William Gorman Wills (28 January 1828 – 13 December 1891), usually known as W. G. Wills, was an Irish dramatist, novelist and painter.

Wills was born at Blackwell lodge in the neighbourhood of Kilmurry, County Kilkenny, Ireland, the son of the Reverend James Wills (1790–1868), author of Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen, and his wife Katherine Gorman Wills. As a young man, he was educated at Waterford Grammar School and later went to Trinity College, Dublin where he took no degree, but was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Medal for his poem "Poland." He later left the university and studied at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin where he studied painting.

Though he had originally planned to study law, WIlls preferred the arts. His first novel was Old Times, for which he also drew and engraved the illustrations. After publishing Old Times in an Irish magazine, he travelled to London, and for some time wrote for periodicals without much success. A second novel, The Wife's Evidence was dramatised with some success. Wills then chose to live a bohemian lifestyle, lodging at the Arundel Club. He later joined the Garrick Club.

For a period, he attempted to make a career as an artist. He set up as a portrait-painter in 1868. He had some success, despite limited artistic training, but his disorderly lifestyle and reputation for missing appointments undermined his career. He also painted narrative works.

He found his true vein in drama, and produced over 30 plays, after having his first major success with the The Man of Airlie, which was shown in London and New York. He worked mainly with the Lyceum Theatre. Some of his most notable works were Medea in Corinth, Eugene Aram, Jane Shore, Buckingham, and Olivia, a dramatisation of The Vicar of Wakefield, which had great success. Wills' plays were typically in verse, participating in the revival of verse drama at the time.

Many of his plays were based on historical events. Charles I, about the life of the English king, was one of his major successes. These works has been strongly criticised for their freedom with historical fact. Harold Child in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature commented,