Hicks first performed the role of Ebenezer Scrooge on the London stage
in 1901, at the age of thirty. He received very mixed reviews and was
criticized for not being able to portray old age convincingly enough,
something he eventually mastered. According to one source, he had
played the role onstage more than 2,000 times by the time he first
appeared as Scrooge on the screen (in 1913).