[3] He first achieved wide recognition as an actor when he joined the 1902 national tour of William W. Young's Ben-Hur in the role of Sanballat; a work produced by Klaw & Erlanger.
[2] In 1906 Mears created the leading role of Philadelphia lawyer Tom Wilson in composer Lee Orean Smith's musical Around the Clock.
[4] A successful road musical, the cast was headed by the Scottish comedian Billie Ritchie, and toured the United States and Europe for several years.
[4] Mears returned to Broadway in 1913 in Carina Jordan's play Rachel at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
[1] With the playwright Hugh Stanislaus Stange he co-authored the 1918 play Seventeen and the book for the 1918 musical You Know Me Al!