MORRIS, WILLIAM

born March 24, 1834, Walthamstow, near London died Oct. 3, 1896, Hammersmith, near London English designer, craftsman, poet, and early Socialist, whose designs for furniture, fabrics, stained glass, wallpaper, and other decorative products generated the Arts and Crafts Movement in England and revolutionized Victorian taste. born 1873, Schwarzenau, Ger. died Nov. 2, 1932, New York City U.S. theatrical agent and manager who opposed the attempted monopoly of vaudeville talent in the early 20th century. Morris was hired by Klaw and Erlanger, heads of a legitimate theatre trust, to book vaudeville acts for their theatre chain. This position put him in conflict with the Keith-Albee United Bookings Office, which sought to monopolize variety talent. Though Keith-Albee was forced to buy out Klaw and Erlanger, stipulating that they stay out of vaudeville for 10 years, the independent Morris was still free to harass them. He continued to manage theatrical acts, with the popular Harry Lauder as his chief attraction. When theatres were closed to Lauder, Morris appealed to trust-busting Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, who requested that Lauder be allowed to appear in Washington, D.C., and personally attended the performance. Morris, with strong support from the theatrical trade paper Variety, finally won his case against theatrical monopolies. He founded the William Morris Agency, one of the foremost theatrical agencies in the country. His son, William Morris, Jr. (born Oct. 22, 1899, New York City) later became president of the agency (193252) and from 1952 served as a director. Additional reading J.W. Mackail, The Life of William Morris, 2 vol. (1899; World's Classics edition, with introduction by S.C. Cockerell, 1950, reprinted 1970), the standard biography; Aymer Vallance, William Morris: His Art, His Writings, and His Public Life (1897; reprinted 1971); E.P. Thompson, William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary (1955; U.S. edition 1977), the definitive political study; Philip Henderson, William Morris: His Life, Work and Friends (1967); and (ed.), The Letters of William Morris to His Family and Friends (1950, reprinted 1978); Paul R. Thompson, The Work of William Morris (1967), a valuable introduction; Raymond Watkinson, William Morris As a Designer (1967); May Morris, The Collected Works of William Morris, 24 vol. (191015); William Morris, Artist, Writer, Socialist, 2 vol. (1936, reprinted 1966); H.H. Sparling, The Kelmscott Press and William Morris, Master-Craftsman (1924); Asa Briggs (ed.), William Morris, Selected Writings and Designs (1963); Nikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius, 2nd ed. (1949; rev. ed. in paperback, 1964); Robert Page Arnot, William Morris, the Man and the Myth (1976). See also The Journal and other publications of the William Morris Society (1955 ).