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Charlotte Charke
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Charlotte Charke
Charlotte Charke, née Cibber, also Charlotte Secheverell, aka Charles Brown (13 January 1713 - 6 April 1760) was an English actress, playwright, novelist, and autobiographer. She began acting at the age of seventeen in breeches roles, and took to wearing male clothing off stage as well, performing and being publicly known as "Charles Brown" from 1741. Her later career and her writings were conducted under her own name, "Mrs. Charlotte Charke", and identified her as the daughter of Colley Cibber. After being unsuccessful in a series of jobs associated with men at the time, such as valet, sausage maker, farmer, and tavern owner, she succeeded in her career as a writer and continued her work as a novelist and memoirist until her death in 1760.
Charke was born on January 13, 1713, in London, England, the youngest of twelve children. Her father was actor, playwright, and poet laureate Colley Cibber, and her mother was musician and actress Katherine Shore. Most of her siblings passed away before the age of one, and Shore, who was forty-five when she gave birth to Charke, saw Charke as "an unwelcome guest to the family." Charke's siblings resented her when she was young and many remained distant from her for the rest of her life.
Like her brothers and sisters, she took an interest in the theatre, and often spent time at the Theatre Royal of Drury Lane, which her father managed.
Family members and friends say Charke began to show an "addiction" to manly activities at a young age. Since her father was often absent due to business endeavors and her mother was frequently sick, Charke became independent at a young age.
Between 1719 and 1721, she attended Mrs. Draper's School for Girls in Park Street, Westminster, where she studied the liberal arts, Latin, Italian, and geography. Following this, she lived with her mother in Middlesex and continued her studies at home – including dance under the "celebrated Mr. Grosconet." She described her education as a "genteel one", and she never took an interest in embroidery or table dressing, instead preferring to learn about science and language. She suggested that her identification with the male gender began early in her life, and recalled impersonating her father as a small child. When she moved in with her mother, she taught herself traditionally male activities such as shooting, gardening, and horse racing. In 1724, Charke and her mother moved to Hertfordshire, where she continued her pursuit of traditionally male subjects and hobbies. According to her anecdotes, she studied medicine there and, in 1726, at the age of 13, tried to establish herself as a doctor. She was not successful, and in 1729, she returned to London to live with her father.
Upon her return to London, she was courted by composer and violinist Richard Charke, and the two were married six months after meeting, on February 4, 1730. The marriage was short-lived, as Charke believed her husband had been motivated by his own poor finances and her father's wealthy status. Once married, Charke, no longer in the care of her parents, began to appear on stage.
In her memoirs, she speaks of her admiration for the "perfect" Mrs. Anne Oldfield, who encouraged her "hopes of success". On April 8, 1730, at the age of seventeen, Charke made her stage debut at Drury Lane in The Provok'd Wife, by John Vanbrugh, playing the stereotypically ultra-feminine minor role of Mademoiselle. However, she stopped performing after discovering she was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, Catherine (also known as Kitty), in December 1730. By June 1731, Charke returned to the stage as Lucy in The London Merchant by George Lillo. The following month, she made her first appearance in a breeches role as Tragedo in the same play, and followed that by Roderigo in Othello in 1732. Charke became interested in travesty roles, or male roles played by women. She would later appear as Mrs. Slammerkin in The Beggar's Opera and the tomboyish Hoyden in The Relapse. Around this time, Charke began intermittently wearing male clothing off the stage.
In 1733, Cibber sold his controlling interest in the Drury Lane Theatre to John Highmore, which upset Charke, who felt that it should have been passed on to her and her brother,Theophilus Cibber. It is likely that the sale was a scheme by Cibber to alleviate his debt by selling the interest at a vastly inflated price to make a profit. Theophilus, who likely knew of the scheme, used the opportunity of new leadership without his father to make greater demands of the theatre and organized an actors' revolt. The revolt led to the tumultuous leadership of Charles Fleetwood, and after several loyal years at Drury Lane, Charke was fired from the company for quarreling with Fleetwood and for boisterous behavior, which was also described as "private misconduct."
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Charlotte Charke
Charlotte Charke, née Cibber, also Charlotte Secheverell, aka Charles Brown (13 January 1713 - 6 April 1760) was an English actress, playwright, novelist, and autobiographer. She began acting at the age of seventeen in breeches roles, and took to wearing male clothing off stage as well, performing and being publicly known as "Charles Brown" from 1741. Her later career and her writings were conducted under her own name, "Mrs. Charlotte Charke", and identified her as the daughter of Colley Cibber. After being unsuccessful in a series of jobs associated with men at the time, such as valet, sausage maker, farmer, and tavern owner, she succeeded in her career as a writer and continued her work as a novelist and memoirist until her death in 1760.
Charke was born on January 13, 1713, in London, England, the youngest of twelve children. Her father was actor, playwright, and poet laureate Colley Cibber, and her mother was musician and actress Katherine Shore. Most of her siblings passed away before the age of one, and Shore, who was forty-five when she gave birth to Charke, saw Charke as "an unwelcome guest to the family." Charke's siblings resented her when she was young and many remained distant from her for the rest of her life.
Like her brothers and sisters, she took an interest in the theatre, and often spent time at the Theatre Royal of Drury Lane, which her father managed.
Family members and friends say Charke began to show an "addiction" to manly activities at a young age. Since her father was often absent due to business endeavors and her mother was frequently sick, Charke became independent at a young age.
Between 1719 and 1721, she attended Mrs. Draper's School for Girls in Park Street, Westminster, where she studied the liberal arts, Latin, Italian, and geography. Following this, she lived with her mother in Middlesex and continued her studies at home – including dance under the "celebrated Mr. Grosconet." She described her education as a "genteel one", and she never took an interest in embroidery or table dressing, instead preferring to learn about science and language. She suggested that her identification with the male gender began early in her life, and recalled impersonating her father as a small child. When she moved in with her mother, she taught herself traditionally male activities such as shooting, gardening, and horse racing. In 1724, Charke and her mother moved to Hertfordshire, where she continued her pursuit of traditionally male subjects and hobbies. According to her anecdotes, she studied medicine there and, in 1726, at the age of 13, tried to establish herself as a doctor. She was not successful, and in 1729, she returned to London to live with her father.
Upon her return to London, she was courted by composer and violinist Richard Charke, and the two were married six months after meeting, on February 4, 1730. The marriage was short-lived, as Charke believed her husband had been motivated by his own poor finances and her father's wealthy status. Once married, Charke, no longer in the care of her parents, began to appear on stage.
In her memoirs, she speaks of her admiration for the "perfect" Mrs. Anne Oldfield, who encouraged her "hopes of success". On April 8, 1730, at the age of seventeen, Charke made her stage debut at Drury Lane in The Provok'd Wife, by John Vanbrugh, playing the stereotypically ultra-feminine minor role of Mademoiselle. However, she stopped performing after discovering she was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, Catherine (also known as Kitty), in December 1730. By June 1731, Charke returned to the stage as Lucy in The London Merchant by George Lillo. The following month, she made her first appearance in a breeches role as Tragedo in the same play, and followed that by Roderigo in Othello in 1732. Charke became interested in travesty roles, or male roles played by women. She would later appear as Mrs. Slammerkin in The Beggar's Opera and the tomboyish Hoyden in The Relapse. Around this time, Charke began intermittently wearing male clothing off the stage.
In 1733, Cibber sold his controlling interest in the Drury Lane Theatre to John Highmore, which upset Charke, who felt that it should have been passed on to her and her brother,Theophilus Cibber. It is likely that the sale was a scheme by Cibber to alleviate his debt by selling the interest at a vastly inflated price to make a profit. Theophilus, who likely knew of the scheme, used the opportunity of new leadership without his father to make greater demands of the theatre and organized an actors' revolt. The revolt led to the tumultuous leadership of Charles Fleetwood, and after several loyal years at Drury Lane, Charke was fired from the company for quarreling with Fleetwood and for boisterous behavior, which was also described as "private misconduct."
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