OLDFIELD, ANNE (1683173o)

This article appears in Volume V20, Page 73 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NUM-ORC

OLDFIELD, ANNE (1683173o) , English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a soldier. She worked for a time as apprentice to a semptress, until she attracted George Farquhar's attention by reciting some lines from a play in his hearing. She thereupon obtained an engagement at Drury

Lane

, where her beauty rather than her ability slowly brought her into favour, and it was not until ten years later that she was generally acknowledged as the best actress of her time. In polite comedy, especially, she was unrivalled, and even the usually grudging Cibber acknowledged that she had as much as he to do with the success of the Careless Husband (1704), in which she created the part of Lady Modish, reluctantly given her because Mrs Verbruggen was ill. In tragedy, too, she won laurels, and the

list

LIST (O.E.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
)
LIST,
FRIEDRICH
- FRIEDRICH, JOHANN (1836— )
(1789-1846)

of her parts, many of them

original

ORIGINAL

, is a long and varied one. She was the theatrical idol of her day. Her exquisite acting and lady-like carriage were the delight of her contemporaries, and her beauty and generosity found innumerable eulogists, as well as sneering detractors. Alexander

Pope

, in his Sober Advice from

Horace

HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

, wrote of her
" Engaging Oldfield, who, with grace and ease, . Could join the arts to ruin and to please."
It was to her that the satirist alluded as the lady who detested being buried in woollen, who said to her maid
" No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace
Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face; One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead, AndBettygive this cheek a little red."
She was but

forty

FORTY

-seven when she died on the 23rd of October =730, leaving all the court and half the town in tears.
She divided her property, for that time a large one, between her natural sons, the first by Arthur Mainwaring (16681712)who had left her and his son half his fortune on his deathand the second by Lieut.-General Charles Churchill (d. 1745). Mrs Oldfield was buried in Westminster Abbey, beneath the

monument

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

Congreve

, but when Churchill applied for per-mission to erect a

monument

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

there to her memory the dean of Westminster refused it.

End of Article: OLDFIELD, ANNE (1683173o)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/NUM_ORC/OLDFIELD_ANNE_1683173o_.html">
OLDFIELD, ANNE (1683173o)
</a>

(Previous)
OLDEST

(Next)
OLDHAM

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email