Oldfield, Anne

1683?

1730

Anne Oldfield was probably born about 1683 and introduced to the stage by the playwright George Farquhar. She evidently joined Drury Lane Theatre under the management of Christopher Rich in 1699-1700, her first known role being Candiope in “Secret Love”. She was called Mrs Oldfield when “The Grove” was published in 1700, an indication that Anne was probably then near her majority. Colley Cibber, a promising actor himself, later said that Anne was not at first given much responsibility at Drury Lane, though the records show her acting and speaking prologues and epilogues during the early years of the new century. By 1703 she was in the middle of the pay roster, though well below the leading ladies Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle. Her opportunity came on 7 December 1704, when the would-be playwright Cibber tailored Lady Betty Modish in “The Careless Husband” to Anne’s talents – ‘an agreeably gay Woman of Quality a little too conscious of her natural Attractions,’ wrote Cibber, and he purposely made the description as applicable to Lady Betty as to Mrs Oldfield. That kind of character became Anne’s line in the years that followed at Drury Lane and the Queen’s Theatre: Sylvia in “The Recruiting Officer”, Mrs Sullen in “The Stratagem”, Lady Lurewell in “The Constant Couple”, Mrs Loveit in “The Man of Mode”, Letitia in “The Old Bachelor”, Millamant in “The Way of the World”, Lady Brute in “The Provok’d Wife” and Lady Townly in “The Provok’d Husband”. She also appeared in serious characters – Jane Shore, Cleopatra in “All for Love”, Calista in “The Fair Penitent” are typical – but she said, according to the prompter Chetwood, ‘I hate to have a Page dragging my Tail about. Why do they not give [Mary] Porter these parts? She can put on a better Tragedy Face than I can.’ And she was probably right: her own vanity made her ideal for sophisticated, graceful ladies of quality. In his preface to “The Provok’d Husband” Cibber said, ‘The spectator was always as much informed by her Eyes, as her Elocution … The qualities she acquired were the Genteel and the Elegant. The one in her Air, and the other in her Dress …’ These were characteristics that Anne Bracegirdle had before her, and Mrs Oldfield’s 1731 “Life” reported that in a contest held (probably in 1706-7 if at all) the two played the title role in “The Amorous Widow” in competition and Oldfield acted Bracegirdle off the stage. Anne also commanded the most favourable of terms from managers. According to the Drury Lane treasurer Zachary Baggs, in 1708-9 Anne was earning over £250 for acting only 39 times. After about 1715 she seems not to have taken more than two or three new parts per season, and at her benefit in March 1729 (the first of the season, a prize in itself) she cleared an estimated £500. She may not have needed the money. Since about 1703 Anne had lived with Arthur Mainwaring, the Commissioner of Customs, by whom she had a son and from whom she inherited a generous estate; after Mainwaring died in 1712 she had a similar affair with Brigadier General Charles Churchill. In both relationships she won the acceptance of families in high society. Anne Oldfield’s last stage appearance was on 28 April 1730 as Lady Brute in “The Provok’d Wife”. She died on 23 October and was buried in Westminster Abbey. It was the end of an era for Drury Lane, where she had been a leading lady for so many years. (BDA; Joanne Lafler, “The Celebrated Mrs. Oldfield”, 1989) [EAL]