Anne Oldfield

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Anne Oldfield, by an unknown artist, in the National Portrait Gallery

Anne Oldfield (* 1683 in London ; † October 23, 1730 ibid) was an English actress and a theater star of her time.

Youth and Discovery

She was born in London to Anne Gourlaw and William Oldfield, a soldier. The father left the family, so that Anne had to hire herself as a seamstress on King Street in Westminster from an early age. She and her mother lived with the host of the Miter Tavern in St. Jame's Market. Despite her poor ancestry, Oldfield must have had a solid basic education, as her biographers report that she devoured printed plays in her early teens. In 1699 she attracted the interest of George Farquhar when, while sitting in that tavern, he overheard her reciting lines from The Scornful Lady (by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher , 1616) in a back room . Shortly afterwards she was engaged by Christopher Rich at the Theater Royal Drury Lane .

Career

It was almost a year before she got her first small role - as Candiope in “Secret Love; or, The Maiden Queen ”(by John Dryden , 1699). She later got the lead role in "The Pilgrim" (by John Fletcher, 1647). However, Oldfield was not really known until the summer of 1703. That changed when the actress Susanna Verbruggen canceled a trip by the company to Bath , which was to be undertaken on the occasion of a performance in front of Queen Anne and her court, due to illness.

Oldfield became one of the leading actresses on Drury Lane. Colley Cibber confirms that the success of his play The Careless Husband (1704), in which she took on the role of Lady Modish , was due in equal measure to him and her. About her portrayal of Lady Townly in his "The Provok'd Husband" of 1728, Cibber said "that she exceeded her usual surpassing." She also played the leading role in "Epicoene, or the Silent Woman" (by Ben Jonson , 1609; see also Die Schweigsame Frau ) and Celia in “Volpone” (Ben Jonson, 1606). She also excelled in many tragedies.

Rise to star

The Gossip London believed it in an effort to provide the best roles rivalry between Oldfield, Anne Bracegirdle , Jane Rogers and Susanna Centlivre came. In 1706 there was a dispute between Oldfield and the Drury Lanes theater management about the promised fee. When the theater refused to accept this promise, Oldfield left the house and joined the competing acting troupe for Thomas Betterton at Her Majesty's Theater ( Haymarket ). There she met Anne Bracegirdle, with whom she immediately competed for audience favor. It is said that once the audience should decide who is the most popular actress and the theater had the play "Amorous Widow" (by Betterton) scheduled for two consecutive evenings. The two rivals each played the role of Mrs. Brittle . When it turned out that the audience preferred her rival, Anne Bracegirdle left the stage and only appeared once more in 1709 in Betterton's favor.

When the management of Drury Lane gave in and Oldfield offered a new, well-paid contract and shares in the theater, she soon returned to Drury Lane. On another occasion, Oldfield was offered to be artistic director, "but her gender was seen as a penalty for this promotion." When asked to state her own terms for remaining in her old position , Oldfield received 200 guineas and was later raised to 500 guineas, making Oldfield the highest paid actress of her time.

Anne Oldfield at Covent Garden, circa 1760–1785

Private life

Beginning at the turn of the century, Anne Oldfield had a ten-year relationship with the politician Arthur Maynwaring ( Whig ). It was common for the actresses, who were then usually poorly paid, to be financially dependent on their lovers. However, Oldfield remained independent of Maynwaring due to her lavish fee. But he supported her career by helping her rehearse new roles and by writing more than a dozen prologues and epilogues for her. When she became pregnant with their son Arthur, Oldfield continued to work until she was physically unable to do so. That was an unusual attitude at a time when most actresses were pressured to take vacations throughout their pregnancy. After giving birth, she returned to the stage three months later.

When Maynwaring died in 1712, Oldfield was faced with rumors that he had died of a sexually transmitted disease that she had transmitted. To clear their names, she had an official autopsy of her ex-lover performed, which revealed that he had died of tuberculosis. At the time, Oldfield was three months pregnant; it is believed that the child did not survive birth.

A few years after Maynwaring's death, Oldfield began a relationship with Charles Churchill , a British Army Lieutenant General. The two lived together for many years and had a son, Charles Churchill . Her pregnancy was accompanied by many concomitant complaints and she was forced to leave the theater for a few months. Her health has never really recovered.

During her last theater season, she suffered from chronic abdominal pain. She then retired from the stage in April 1730 and died of uterine cancer a few months later.

Death and burial

Anne Oldfield was the theater idol of her time. Her exquisite acting and ladylike demeanor delighted her contemporaries, and her beauty and generosity found countless eulogists, but also scornful envious people. Alexander Pope rhymed about them in his Sober Advice from Horace :

"Engaging Oldfield, who, with grace and ease,
Could join the arts to ruin and to please."

Oldfield was 74 years old when she died on October 23, 1730 in London (60 Grosvenor Street). The people of London expressed dismay at her demise. She bequeathed her vast possessions to her two sons. She was buried in Westminster Abbey , near the William Congreve monument . Her life partner Churchill asked for permission to erect a monument for her, but the Dean of Westminster refused.

Significant roles

  • 1699, Candiope - "Secret Love, or The Maiden Queen" by John Dryden .
  • 1679, Alinda - "The Pilgrim" by John Fletcher.
  • 1704, Lady Modish - "The Careless Husband" by Colley Cibber .
  • 1706, Celia - "Volpone" by Ben Johnson.
  • 1707, A Silent Woman - "Epicœne, or The Silent Woman" by Ben Johnson.
  • 1707, Florimel - "Marriage A La Mode" by John Dryden .
  • 1709, Rutland - "The Unhappy Favorite, or The Earl of Essex" by John Bankes.
  • 1709, Leonara - “Sir Courtly Nice, or It Cannot Be” by John Crown.
  • 1709, Carolina- “Epsom Wells” by Thomas Shadwell .
  • 1709, Elvira - “The Spanish Fryer, or The Double Discovery” by unknown .
  • 1709, Narcissa - “Love's Last Shift” by Colley Cibber .
  • 1709, Maria - “The Fortune Hunters, or Two Fools Well Met” by James Carlile.
  • 1709, Lady Lurewell - “The Constant Couple, or A Trip To The Jubilee” by George Farquhar .
  • 1709, Hellena - “The Rover, or The Banish'd Cavilier” by Aphra Behn .
  • 1709, Estifania - “Rule a Wife and Have a Wife” by John Fletcher.
  • 1709, Mrs. Sullen - "The Stratagem and Other Stories" by Aleister Crowley .
  • 1709, Widow - "Wit Without Money" by John Fletcher.
  • 1709, Wanton Wife - "The Wanton Wife" by Thomas Betterton .
  • 1709, Constantina - "The Chances" by John Fletcher
  • 1709, Belinda - "The Man's Bewitched" by Mary Pix .
  • 1712, Andromache - "Distrest Mother" by Ambrose Philips.
  • 1713, Marcia - "Cato, a Tragedy" by Joseph Addison .
  • 1713. Jane Shore "The Tragedy of Jane Shore" by Nicholas Rowe
  • 1728, Lady Townly - "The Provok'd Husband" by Colley Cibber .

literature

  • Anonymous. Authentick Memoirs of the Life of that Celebrated Actress, Mrs. Ann Oldfield, Containing a Genuine Account of Her Transactions from Her Infancy to the Time of Her Decease, 4th edition. London 1730.
  • Egerton, William. Faithful Memoirs of the Life, Amours and Performances of that justly Celebrated, and most Eminent Actress of her Time, Mrs. Anne Oldfield. Interspersed with Several Other Dramatic Memoirs . London 1731.
  • Engel, Laura and Elaine M. McGirr, eds. Stage Mothers: Women, Work, and the Theater, 1660-1830 . Lenham, Maryland: Bucknell University Press, 2014.
  • Gore-Browne, Robert. Gay was the Pit: the Life and Times of Anne Oldfield, Actress (1683-1730). London: Max Reinhardt, 1957.
  • Hays, Mary. “Mrs. Oldfield. " Female biography; or Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of all Ages and Countries (6 volumes). London: R. Phillips, 1803, volume 6, pages 28-31.
  • Lafler, Joanne. The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress . Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.
  • Melville, Lewis. Stage Favorites of the Eighteenth Century. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran & Company, Inc., 1929.
  • McGirr, Elaine. Eighteenth Century Characters: a Guide To The Literature of The Age. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
  • Walnut, Felicity. Rival Queens: Actresses, Performance, and the Eighteenth-Century British Theater. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
  • Parsons, Nicola, "Mrs. Oldfield, ”Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women's Memoirs , ed.Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part III. P ickering & Chatto: London, 2013, Volume 10, Pages 30–33, editorial notes, Pages 548–51.
  • Ritchie, Fiona. Women and Shakespeare in the Eighteenth Century . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Thespian dictionary; or, Dramatic biography of the eighteenth century; contains life stories, productions etc. of all theater directors, actors ... ( en )
  2. ^ Robert Gore-Browne, Gay was the Pit: the Life and Times of Anne Oldfield, Actress (1683–1730) (London: Max Reinhardt, 1957), p. 16.
  3. ^ Robert Gore-Browne, Gay was the Pit: the Life and Times of Anne Oldfield, Actress (1683-1730) (London: Max Reinhardt, 1957), pages 18-19.
  4. ↑ Joanne Lafler, The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989), pp 16-17.
  5. ↑ In reality, however, she was pregnant (Verbruggen died during the subsequent birth). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers ... by Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press in the Google Book Search
  6. ↑ Joanne Lafler, The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989), p 25
  7. ↑ a b c d s: en: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica / Bracegirdle, Anne
  8. ^ Lewis Melville, Stage Favorites of the Eighteenth Century (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran & Company, Inc., 1929), pp. 19-21
  9. ↑ s: en: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica / Bracegirdle, Anne Informations der Encyclopædia Britannica
  10. ↑ Felicity Nussbaum, Rival Queens: Actresses, Performance, and the Eighteenth-Century British Theater (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 51.
  11. ↑ a b The Thespian dictionary; or, Dramatic biography of the eighteenth century; containing sketches of the lives, productions, & c., of all the principal managers, ... ( en )
  12. ↑ Joanne Lafler, The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989), pages 27-31.
  13. ↑ Nicola Parsons, “Mrs. Oldfield, ”Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women's Memoirs , Ed. Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part III. Pickering & Chatto: London, 2013, vol. 10, vol. 10, 30–3, editorial notes, pages 548–551
  14. ↑ Laura Engel and Elaine M. McGirr, eds. Stage Mothers: Women, Work, and the Theater, 1660-1830 (Lenham, Maryland: Bucknell University Press, 2014), pp. 45-46.
  15. ↑ Laura Engel and Elaine M. McGirr, eds, Stage Mothers: Women, Work, and the Theater, 1660-1830 (Lenham, Maryland: Bucknell University Press, 2014), p. 48.
  16. ↑ Nicola Parsons, “Mrs. Oldfield, ”Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women's Memoirs , ed.Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part III. Pickering & Chatto: London, 2013, vol. 10, vol. 10, 30–3, editorial notes on pages 548–551.
  17. ↑ Laura Engel and Elaine M. McGirr, eds., Stage Mothers: Women, Work, and the Theater, 1660-1830 (Lenham, Maryland: Bucknell University Press, 2014), pp. 53-54.
  18. ↑ Joanne Lafler, The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989), p 162nd
  19. ^ Dictionary of National Biography
  20. ^ English Heritage plaque for Oldfield at plaquesoflondon.co.uk
  21. ↑ Nicola Parsons, “Mrs. Oldfield, ”Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women's Memoirs , Ed. Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part III . Pickering & Chatto: London, 2013, vol. 10, vol. 10, 30–3, editorial notes, pages 548–551.
  22. ↑ Joanne Lafler: The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield: the Life and Art of an Augustan Actress . Southern Illinois University Press, 1989, p. 17.
  23. ^ The Thespian dictionary; or, Dramatic biography of the eighteenth century; containing sketches of the lives, productions, & c., of all the principal managers, ... ( en )
  24. ↑ Chishol, Hugh, ed. (1911) "Oldfield, Anne". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 (11th ed). Cambridge University Press. p.73.
  25. ↑ Chishol, Hugh, ed. (1911) "Oldfield, Anne". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 (11th ed). Cambridge University Press. p.73.
  26. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The London stage, 1660-1800; a calendar of plays, entertainments & afterpieces, together with casts, box receipts and contemporary comment. Compiled ... pt.2 v.1. ( en )
  27. ↑ Eighteenth Century Collections Online ( en )
  28. ^ The London stage, 1660-1800; a calendar of plays, entertainments & afterpieces, together with casts, box receipts and contemporary comment. Compiled ... pt.2 v.1. ( en )
personal data
SURNAME Oldfield, Anne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH 1683
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1730
Place of death London