Jane Pope

Jane Pope (1744 – 30 July 1818) was an English actress.

Jane Pope
by James Roberts in 1778
Born1744
London
Died30 July, 1818
Brompton
NationalityUnited Kingdom
Occupationactor

Life

Pope was the daughter William and Susanna Pope. Her father was a London theatrical wig-maker for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[1] (There has been confusion over her date of birth with different authorities giving 1742 and 1744, but in a letter from Jane Pope of 1808 she states her age as 64.)[2] Pope had three brothers and she spent her life living with her sister who was named after their mother. Neither of them married.[1]

As a child Pope and her brother were recruited as child extras for a Lilliputian production for Garrick in 1756.[1] From this she speedily developed into soubrette roles. Pope had a dispute with Garrick over whether she was worth eight or ten pounds a week. She left his company but returned when he offered to reemploy her and Pope agreed to eight pounds.[1] She was Mrs Candour in The School for Scandal at its first presentation (1777).[2] There is a painting of Jane Pope by James Roberts in the role of Mrs Page in the Merry Wives of Windsor. She played Mrs Page at Drury Lane in several performances in February to April 1778.[3]

Pope was a lifelong friend of Mrs Clive, and erected the monument at Twickenham to the latter's memory.[2] She retired from the professional stage at a special performance at Drury Lane on 26 May 1808. She was an admirable actress and was praised by all the literary critics of her day unused to such a combination.[2]

Selected roles

References
  1. "Pope, Jane (1744–1818), actress | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22531. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pope, Jane". Encyclopædia Britannica. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 87.
  3. "CollectionsOnline | G0685". garrick.ssl.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
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