Mark Last King
Mark Last King (5 February 1809 – 13 February 1879) was an English‑Australian actor and politician. Born in London as Mark Last, he learned the silk trade and ran his own silk business in Winchester Street. He moved to Australia in 1838, arriving in Melbourne, then briefly worked in the timber industry on the Clarence River in New South Wales. He became an actor under the stage name Morton King, performing in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, mainly in Shakespeare plays. In 1848 he was described as unrivalled in his line on this side of the world. He later adopted King as his legal surname because of his success.
In 1848 he began managing the Queen’s Theatre in Melbourne and, with Charles Frederick Young, leased it in 1850–51. He then largely retired from acting. He moved to Port Adelaide for a period, returned to Melbourne in 1853 and worked as an auctioneer and estate agent in Bourke Street, later becoming a broker with the Chinese merchant community.
King entered politics in 1859, serving in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for West Bourke (1859–61, 1864–74, 1875–77) and for Footscray (from 1877 until his death in 1879). He declined a ministry offer from Charles Gavan Duffy due to policy differences. He was not a frequent speaker but attended the house regularly.
His last acting role was in a fundraising performance of The Merchant of Venice at the Theatre Royal in April 1861, where he played Shylock. He died at his home in East Melbourne in 1879, aged 70, after about 18 months of illness, and was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:48 (CET).