Jeffreys Lewis was a Britishborn American actress whose career lasted long after her popularity as a leading lady had faded.
Mary Jeffreys Lewis was born in London, England, onOctober to Irish parents of Welsh descent. Some sources give her birth year as 1855 or later, though if correct, early US census indicate she was most likely born around 1852. Lewis attended elocution classes at the Birkbeck Institute and made her first stage appearance at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was brought to America in 1873, probably with her mother, May, and sisters, Catherine and Constance, with veteran British actor Thomas C. King to perform on the New York stage. Her Broadway debut came on theSeptember 1873, at the New Lyceum Theatre on 14th Street and 6th Ave., playing Esmeralda opposite Kings Quasimodo in Notre Dame, a failed dramatic adaption of Victor Hugos The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Source: Wikipedia