Ida Lewis began acting at the age of 11, in 1879, when she played the part of Gamora in "The Honeymoon" in some amateur theatricals in her own home. She displayed such remarkable ability for her age that a brilliant future for her was predicted. She made her first professional appearance in 1880 with the Daniel E. Bandmann repertoire company as the Prince of Wales in "Richard III", and thenceforth she was before the public as Julia Arthur, using the first name of Julia and her mother's maiden name. Her first New York success was at the Union Square Theatre in "The Black Masque" a stage adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" by Frederick Giles.