Colley Cibber (1671)

Born 6 Nov 1671 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England

Biography

Colley Cibber is Notable.

Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style. He wrote 25 plays for his own company at Drury Lane, half of which were adapted from various sources, which led Robert Lowe and Alexander Pope, among others, to criticise his "miserable mutilation" of "crucified Molière [and] hapless Shakespeare". He regarded himself as first and foremost an actor and had great popular success in comical fop parts, while as a tragic actor he was persistent but much ridiculed. Cibber's brash, extroverted personality did not sit well with his contemporaries, and he was frequently accused of tasteless theatrical productions, shady business methods, and a social and political opportunism that was thought to have gained him the laureateship over far better poets. He rose to ignominious fame when he became the chief target, the head Dunce, of Alexander Pope's satirical poem The Dunciad.

Cibber's poetical work was derided in his time, and has been remembered only for being poor. Nonetheless, he was appointed Poet Laureate on 3 December 1730 and retained the office until his death. ^[1] His importance in British theatre history rests on his being one of the first in a long line of actor-managers, on the interest of two of his comedies as documents of evolving early 18th-century taste and ideology, and on the value of his autobiography as a historical source.

Probate

Cibber's will was probated 12 December 1757. He left son, Theophilus - £50; daughter, Ann Boltby - £50; daughter, Elizabeth Marphs - £5; daughter, Charlotte Charke - £5; granddaughter, Jane Cibber - £1000; granddaughter, Elizabeth Cibber £1000; daughter, Catherine Brown - Estate Residue - ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ THE ARTISTIC ESTABLISHMENT: Poet Laureate 1660-1837, in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837, ed. R O Bucholz (London, 2006), p. 178. British History Online [accessed 15 August 2021].
2. ↑ Colley Cibber in England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 [database on-line]. The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 834; Accessed on 15 Aug 2021
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