Walter H. Fisher
Walter Henry Fisher (1848 – 1 January 1893) was an English singer and actor of the Victorian era best remembered as the creator of the role of the Defendant in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1875 opera Trial by Jury. Beginning in the 1860s with much promise in comic plays, classics, Victorian burlesque, and as a versatile singer in opera and operetta, Fisher seemed headed for lasting stardom alongside his wife Lottie Venne. His career was limited, however, by his struggle with alcoholism, ending in the 1880s, and he died at age 44. Gustave Slapoffski described Fisher as "probably the finest comic opera tenor the English stage has ever known". Early life and career Born in Clifton, Bristol, in 1848, Fisher was the middle of three children of Mary Ann née Powell (born 1817) and James Fisher (1812–1896), a miniature portrait artist and photographer. Fisher studied singing with Signor Catalani and was singing as a concert tenor by 1863, aged 15, in the Bristol Athenaeum. He went on to sing at local events, particularly with the Bristol Volunteer Artillery Corps Dramatique for whom he sometimes performed in drag in female roles, gaining a local reputation as both an excellent singer and actor.