The Life of Mrs Jordan
Including Original Private Correspondence, and Numerous Anecdotes of her Contemporaries

A playwright-turned-biographer's 1831 account of the extraordinary life of Dorothy Jordan, celebrated actress and mistress of William, Duke of Clarence.

James Boaden (Author)

9781108054584, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 August 2012

394 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.2 cm, 0.5 kg

The actress Dorothy Jordan (1761–1816), contemporary of Sarah Siddons, was born in London, one of nine children. Her reputation as the greatest comic actress of her time was secured upon joining Sheridan's company at Drury Lane in 1785. Remembered particularly for cross-dressing roles such as Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night, she brought great charm and spontaneity to her interpretations. Her life off-stage was equally colourful, and she was for over twenty years the lover of William, Duke of Clarence, with whom she had ten children. This two-volume biography, first published in 1831, was written by her friend James Boaden (1762–1839), a playwright who later turned to theatrical biography. In it, he relates the extraordinary and poignant story of her life from acclaim to obscurity. Volume 1 covers events up to 1798, including her establishment at Drury Lane and her liaison with Clarence.

1. What is to be expected in these memoirs
2. Miss Francis arrives at Leeds in July 1782
3. The year 1783
4. The ascendancy of Mrs Siddons
5. In the recess thinks of her old friends in Yorkshire
6. King's management
7. Kemble's management from October 1788
8. The summer of 1789
9. Dr Woolcot does justice to Mrs Jordan
10. History of Drury Lane theatres
11. The Grand National Theatre
12. The death of Parsons
13. Mr. Coleman and the re-opening of his Iron Chest
14. Death of Charles Macklin.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]