Lasses,’ 4 Feb. 1715; Sir George Truman in Steele's ‘Drummer,’ 10 March 1716; and 6 Dec. 1717 Heartly in Cibber's ‘Non-Juror.’ He had also been seen as Philaster, Demetrius in the ‘Humourous Lieutenant,’ Ferdinand in the ‘Tempest,’ and Cassio. At Drury Lane Wilks remained until close upon his death. His original parts during the remainder of his stay, omitting a few in pieces which failed or are completely forgotten, are Don Carlos in Cibber's ‘Ximena,’ founded on the ‘Cid,’ 1 Nov. 1718 (it had been acted six years earlier); Sir George Jealous in C. Johnson's ‘Masquerade,’ 16 Jan. 1719; Bellamar in T. Killigrew's ‘Chit-Chat,’ 14 Feb.; Memnon in Young's ‘Busiris,’ 7 March; Eurytion in Southerne's ‘Spartan Dame,’ 11 Dec.; Eumenes in Hughes's ‘Siege of Damascus,’ 17 Feb. 1720; Frankly in Cibber's ‘Refusal,’ 14 Feb. 1721; Carlos in Young's ‘Revenge,’ 18 April; Yvor in Ambrose Philips's ‘Briton,’ 19 Feb. 1722; Sir John Freeman in Mrs. Centlivre's ‘Artifice,’ 2 Oct.; Myrtle in Steele's ‘Conscious Lovers,’ 7 Nov.; Orlando in ‘Love in a Forest,’ altered from ‘As you like it,’ 9 Jan. 1723; Dauphin in Hill's altered ‘Henry V,’ 5 Dec.; Phraortes in Gay's ‘Captives,’ 15 Jan. 1724; Antony in Cibber's ‘Cæsar in Egypt,’ 9 Dec.; Bellamine in James Moore Smythe's ‘Rival Modes,’ 27 Jan. 1727; Henriquez in the ‘Double Falsehood,’ assigned by Theobald to Shakespeare, 13 Dec.; Lord Townly in the ‘Provoked Husband,’ 10 Jan. 1728; Merital in Fielding's ‘Love in several Masques,’ 16 Feb.; Gainlove in Miller's ‘Humours of Oxford,’ 9 Jan. 1730; Masinissa in Thomson's ‘Sophonisba,’ 28 Feb.; Jason in C. Johnson's ‘Medea,’ 11 Dec.; Lord Modely in Boden's ‘Modish Couple,’ 10 Jan. 1732; and Bellamant in Fielding's ‘Modern Husband,’ 21 Feb. This was his last original character. Among parts of which he was not the originator were Mirabell in the ‘Way of the World,’ the Prince of Wales in the ‘Second Part of King Henry IV,’ Aurenge-Zebe, Buckingham in ‘Henry VIII,’ Altamont in the ‘Fair Penitent,’ and Hastings in ‘Richard III.’
Wilks died at his house in Bow Street, Covent Garden, on 27 Feb. 1732, and was buried at midnight (by his own desire) on 4 Oct. at St. Paul's, Covent Garden. A prologue to his memory was spoken at Drury Lane on 14 Oct. Mrs. Wilks, born Elizabeth Knapton, had died on 21 March 1714, and was buried in St. Paul's, Covent Garden, where her husband raised a monument. He married again, on 26 April 1715, Mary Fall (born Browne), a widow with four children living, who survived him.
Wilks's name was long associated with the management first of the Haymarket and then of Drury Lane [for the complex managerial changes between 1705 and 1709 see Rich, Christopher]. In 1710, by an arrangement with William Collier, M.P., the chief lessee, the management of Drury Lane was assigned to Wilks, Doggett, and Cibber. The most prosperous period of Drury Lane management then began. Barton Booth [q. v.] was associated in the management early in 1711, and Steele took on 18 Oct. 1714 the place of Collier, to whom the license was granted, the managers then consisting of Steele, Wilks, Cibber, Doggett, and Booth. In January 1720 the theatre was temporarily shut and the licenses revoked by the Duke of Newcastle, the lord chamberlain [see Steele, Sir Richard]. By the season of 1729–30 Steele was dead and Booth disqualified from acting. After Steele's death a patent was granted to Cibber, Wilks, and Booth, empowering them to give plays at Drury Lane for a period of twenty-one years from 1 Sept. 1732. Wilks's share came at his death into the hands of his widow, who appointed John Ellys [q. v.], the portrait-painter, her representative.
Cibber, whose ‘Apology’ is largely occupied with Wilks, though not estimating very highly Wilks's judgment or his correctness of style, declares him to have been the most diligent, laborious, and useful actor that had been on the stage for fifty years. His unfailing industry is attributed to his ambition for fame, in search of which he was unremitting in labour. By example and authority he rebuked negligence in others. In the ‘Spectator’ Wilks is specially commended as Macduff, Sir Harry Wildair, Mosca, and the Prince of Wales in ‘The First Part of Henry IV.’ Davies declares the last to have been ‘one of the most perfect exhibitions of the stage,’ and says that the Hotspur of Booth was not superior. Davies praises his Castalio, which was, however, inferior to that of Cibber, and his Antony in ‘Julius Cæsar,’ in which he showed his customary fault of restlessness. His Othello is spoken of with disparagement by Cibber and by Steele. In Hamlet, Castalio in the ‘Orphan,’ Ziphares in ‘Mithridates,’ Edgar in ‘Lear,’ Norfolk in ‘Albion Queens,’ Essex, Moneses in ‘Tamerlane,’ and Jaffier in ‘Venice Preserved’ he won recognition. But though his tragic conceptions were praised for sorrow, tenderness, and resignation, his greatest triumphs were all in comedy, and especially in the comedy of Farquhar. His chief qualities as a comedian
