Researching Robert Lewis

In addition to his accomplishments on Broadway and in Hollywood, Lewis' greatest and longest lasting contribution to American theater may be the role he played as one of the foremost acting and directing teachers of his day. He was an early proponent of the Stanislavski System of acting technique and a founding member of New York's revolutionary Group Theatre in the 1930s. In the 1970s, he was the Head of the Yale School of Drama Acting and Directing Departments.

Robert J. Lewis was born in Dover, Pennsylvania. He attended the public schools of York, Pennsylvania and graduated from the high school in 1883. He taught in the public schools until September 1889. He graduated from the law department of Yale University in 1891 and was admitted to the New Haven, Connecticut, bar in June 1891 and to the bar of York County, Pennsylvania, August 1891. He commenced practice in York. He was elected school controller of York in 1893 and reelected in 1897 and 1903. He was elected city solicitor in 1895. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1898.

Lewis was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-seventh Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1902. He returned to the practice of law, and died in Camden, Arkansas, in 1933. He remains were cremated and the ashes placed in the Iris Columbarium Mausoleum in St. Louis, Missouri.

A scrum-half, he has represented Wales at Under18, Under19 and at Under20 level and was selected for the Wales Sevens squad in 2007, in which he competed in four tournaments, - Adelaide, Wellington, Hong Kong and San Diego. He was a key figure for Wales U19s, helping them win the Under19 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam and was Wales's top try scorer in the tournament. The same year he represented Wales U19 at the Junior World Cup in Dubai.

Robert came through the Newport Gwent Dragons Academy learning his trade with Ebbw Vale RFC and made his debut for the region in December 2007, coming off the bench away to Munster. He would go on to make a further 14 appearances for the Newport Gwent Dragons gaining Celtic League, LV Cup and four Heineken Cup experiences. Scoring a try in the Christmas period derby win over the Ospreys.

In May 2009 Lewis joined London Welsh and made a total of 88 appearances in three seasons and in 2011/2012 he played a major role in London Welsh winning the English Championship, beating Cornish Pirates in the two leg final and gaining promotion to the Aviva Premiership.

In July 2012 he joined Cardiff Blues but in the November he returned to London Welsh who were then competing in the Premiership. Lewis again played a major role in London Welsh winning the English Championship for a second time in 2013/2014 and went on to play in a total of 136 league games making him the second highest in league appearances in the club's history after Matt Corker.

Following the unfortunate financial situation at London Welsh and its loss of a licence to continue to play in the RFU Greene King Championship, Rob returned to Ebbw Vale RFC in January 2017. On 16 March 2017 Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club announced that Lewis was the first new signing for the club's 2017/2018 National League 1 campaign.

Lewis received BM (1949), MM (1951), and PhD (1964) degrees in composition from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where his principal teacher was Bernard Rogers. He also studied composition privately during the 1950s with Nadia Boulanger (in Paris) and Hans Erich Apostel (in Vienna), and conducting with Pierre Monteux.

His style is atonal and textural in orientation. His music is filled with arresting timbral combinations and projects its often densely complex rhythmic structures with the utmost clarity.

In 2018 Dundurn Press published his book, Power, Prime Ministers and the Press: The Battle for Truth on Parliament Hill, a history of the Canadian Parliamentary press gallery (Dundurn Press, October 2018). In 2019 it was selected for the long list of the Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction. The book is based on interviews and archival research about the interplay between reporters and Canada's 23 prime ministers .

Lewis is a former editor-in-chief of Maclean's newsmagazine (1993–2000) and was a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery for more than a decade.

After graduating with an English degree from Loyola College in 1964, Lewis worked as a reporter for The Montreal Star. He was bureau chief for Time Magazine in Montreal (1967–1969), a correspondent in Ottawa (1969–1971) and Boston (1971–1972) and bureau chief in Toronto (1972–1975). In 1975, Lewis became bureau chief for Maclean's in Ottawa, then Maclean's managing editor in 1982, and editor-in-chief from 1993 to the end of 2000.

Lewis was responsible for the launch of the annual university rankings feature and led the team that moved Maclean's into online publishing. In 2001, Lewis joined Rogers Media Incorporated as vice president of content development.

Since his retirement in 2008, Lewis has worked as a freelance editor and media consultant. Lewis was a member of York University's Board of Governors. Lewis is also a founding member of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and served as chair of the board of directors.

A native of Waterloo, Quebec, he and Sally O'Neill, whom he married in 1967, now live in Toronto.