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THOMAS BETTERTON (c. 1635-1710)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 832 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THOMAS BETTERTON (c. 1635-1710)  ,
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English actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I., was born in
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London . He was apprenticed to John Holden;
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Sir William Davenant's publisher, and possibly later to a bookseller named Rhodes, who had been
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wardrobe-keeper to the theatre in Blackfriars . The latter obtained in 1659 a licence to set up a
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company of players at the
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Cockpit in Drury Lane; and on the reopening of this theatre in ,66o, Betterton made his first appearance on the stage . His talents at once brought him into prominence, and he was given leading parts . On the opening of the new theatre in Lincoln's
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Inn Fields in 1661, Sir William Davenant, the patentee, engaged Betterton and all Rhodes's company to
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play in his Siege of Rhodes . Betterton, besides being a public favourite, was held in high esteem by Charles II., who sent him to Paris to examine stage improvements there . According to Cibber it was after his return that shifting scenes instead of
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tapestry were first used in an English theatre . In 1692, in an unfortunate
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speculation, Betterton and his friend Sir Francis Watson were ruined; but Betterton's affection for Sir Francis was so strong that he adopted the latter's daughter and educated her for the stage . In .1693, with the aid of friends, he erected the New Playhouse in the tennis court in Lincoln's Inn Fields . It was opened in 1695 with Congreve's Love for Love . But in a few years the -profits fell off; and Betterton, labouring under the infirmities of age and
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gout, determined to quit the stage . At his benefit performance, when the profits are said to have been over £500, he played Valentine in Love for Love .

In 1710 he made his last appearance as Melantius in The Maid's Tragedy; he died on the 28th of

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April, and was buried in Westminster Abbey . In appearance he was athletic, slightly above
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middle height, with a tendency to stoutness; his voice was strong rather than melodious, but in recitation it was used with the greatest dexterity . Pepys, Pope, Steele and Cibber all bestow lavish praise on his acting . His repertory included a large number of Shakespearian roles, and although many of these were presented in the tasteless versions of Davenant, Dryden, Shadweil and Nahum Tate, yet they could not hide the
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great histrionic gifts which Betterton possessed, nor does his reputation rest on these performances alone . The blamelessness of his
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life was conspicuous in an age and a profession notorious for dissolute habits . Betterton was author of several adaptations which were popular in their day . In 1662 he had married Mary Saunderson (d . 1712), an admirable actress, whose Ophelia shared the honours with his
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Hamlet . See Howe, Thomas Betterton (1891) : The Life and Times of Thomas Betterton (1886) .

End of Article: THOMAS BETTERTON (c. 1635-1710)
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