Colley Cibber
British poet laureate (1671-1757) · Writers · Died at 86
Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style.
Colley Cibber is read about 59 times a day, in 23 languages.
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Colley Cibber c. 1740, painted plaster bust, National Portrait Gallery, London
Title page of Cibber's Apology
Cibber had "melancholy Prospect of ever playing a Lover with" leading actress Mrs. Bracegirdle.
Colley Cibber plays the part of Lord Foppington in John Vanbrugh's comedy The Relapse
David Garrick's innovative realistic performance as Richard III broke with Cibber's melodrama tradition.
Love's Last Shift, published 1696
Outstanding wifely tact in The Careless Husband: Lady Easy finds her husband asleep with the maid and places her scarf on his head so that he will not catch cold, but will know that she has seen him.About this person
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".
