Sheldon Lewis

Biography

Philadelphia greeted Sheldon Lewis on April 20, 1869, and the restless city’s footlights soon lured him toward the flickering birth of cinema. Between the hush of nickelodeons and the roar of early talkies, he carved a niche in shadow and suspense: lurching through 1932’s The Monster Walks, plotting intrigue in 1921’s Orphans of the Storm, and embodying horror’s dual soul in 1920’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Off-screen, his leading lady was fellow performer Virginia Pearson. The final curtain fell on May 7, 1958, in San Gabriel, California, but the celluloid ghosts he conjured still prowl late-night reels.