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Mary Porter (actress)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Porter (died 24 February 1765) was an English actress.

Life

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She was brought to the attention of Betterton by Elizabeth Barry, who had seen her play the Fairy Queen at Bartholomew Fair.[1]

In his company she made her first appearance in 1699, in tragedy, in which she was at her best, although she also played a long list of comedy parts. When her friends, Mrs Barry, Mrs Bracegirdle and Mrs Oldfield, had retired from the stage, she was left its undisputed queen.[1]

In 1713 she appeared in John Gay's comedy The Wife of Bath at Drury Lane. In 1724 she featured in his tragedy The Captives as Astarbe, Queen of Media.

Selected roles

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References

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Attribution
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Porter, Mary". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.