Ernest Lambart (January 1, 1874-June 23, 1945) came from Anglo-Irish aristocracy and then made a career of playing stage Englishmen in dinner jackets and monocles. Lambart grew up rich and died poor on Welfare Island, but something from The Lambs he treasured resurfaced in 2026.
Lambart was elected to The Lambs in 1904, only one year after landing in the U.S. and the same year the club moved into its grand clubhouse on West 44th Street. He remained a member for the rest of his life.
Ernest Oliver Cavan Lambart was born on New Year’s Day 1874 in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, about ten miles southeast of Glasgow. His parents were from a long line of wealthy landowners in Ireland. His father, Major Frederick Richard Henry Lambart, and mother, Catherine Adeline Maxwell Gill, had property in both countries. Ernest’s great-grandfather was General Richard Ford William Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan, who led the British Army in Egypt in 1801 and was the man who suggested the British remove the obelisk now known as Cleopatra’s Needle to London.
Ernest was brought up among his wealthy family on the 1,700-acre estate in Navan, County Meath, Ireland. He claimed he was sent to Oxford with the view that he would join the British Army, like his father and grandfathers. He said in November 1898 he was commissioned a second lieutenant of the Fourth Hussars.
However, just one year later he was dancing in London’s West End at the Lyric Theatre in the smash hit musical comedy “Florodora” as the show rocketed to international fame. Lambart said later he only moved to the U.S. at the suggestion of Lamb Daniel Frohman, from the powerful theatrical family, who spotted him in London.
In 1903 Lambart booked passage to New York. He landed at Ellis Island and declared his occupation: “Actor.”
His first appearance was in the English import “The Girl From Kays” (1903) at the Herald Square Theater. He later played with Weber and Fields in their famous Music Hall; with Lamb William Faversham in “The Squaw Man” (1905); and was a member of Anna Held’s company both in New York and on tour. Lambart got good notices in Joe Weber’s “Twiddle Twaddle” (1906). In 1910 he had the lead in fellow Lamb Ivan Caryll’s hit comedy “Our Miss Gibbs” at the Knickerbocker Theatre. He did little acting for the next decade.
When the Great War began, Lambart returned home in 1914 to serve the King. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and commanded infantry in the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was sent to the Western Front trenches. In September 1916, he was honored by the British Army and awarded the Military Cross: “For conspicuous gallantry during operations. During a very heavy bombardment he kept his gun teams steady by his coolness and fine example. Later he went into ‘No Man’s Land’ and helped to bring the wounded in under heavy fire.” His younger brother, Charles, was killed that summer at Ypres.
Lambart got little work after the Great War. Friends and acquaintances kept him afloat; he apparently got no money from the family fortune. He acted opposite Joe Cook in “Rain or Shine” (1928) and Al Jolson in “Wonder Bar” (1934). His last engagement was with Max Gordon’s production of “The Great Waltz” (1934) by Lamb Moss Hart.
In 1919 he married actress Josephine Drake (née Teller). Depending on who was telling the story, the marriage lasted one week or eight weeks. It quickly ended in divorce and later alimony court.
Lambart retired in 1935 after 30 years on Broadway. In 1945 he was admitted to the New York Cancer Institute on Welfare Island, where he died on June 23, 1945. He was 71. His funeral services and burial were under the auspices of the Actors’ Fund of America. Lambart is interred in the Fund’s plot in the Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn.
More than eighty years later, one of Lambart’s prized possessions turned up in France. Collector Steven Murray was in an antiques shop in Périgueux, Dordogne, Southwest France. He spotted a mug that had been given to Lambart by Brother Lamb Frederick Watson for winning a Lambs billiards tournament. It features the Lambs crest and their names. Murray contacted the Club and made arrangements to get it back to New York. He sent it to Paris, where it was picked up by Lamb Melody Cohen, who carried it back to the clubhouse. How the mug ended up in France is a mystery, but knowing that Lambart was in World War I from 1914-1916 might be a clue. The glass bottom tankard is now back in the Fold.
Researched and written by Shepherd Kevin C. Fitzpatrick (2026)