About
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.
Key details
| Born |
6 November 1671 Southampton Street, London, England
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| Died |
11 December 1757 (aged 86) Berkeley Square, London, England
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| Zodiac | Scorpio |
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Children 6
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Theophilus Cibber 5th child with Catherine Cibber Male b. 26 Nov 1703 d. Oct 1758 Age: 54 (at death) 1703-1758 18th-century English actor, playwright, and author -
Charlotte Cibber 6th child with Catherine Cibber Female b. 13 Jan 1713 d. 6 Apr 1760 Age: 47 (at death) 1713-1760 British actor and writer
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1
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6Scholars
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