Years active
1688 – 1709
Stage Name // Legal/Birth Name
Anne Bracegirdle
Country of Origin
United Kingdom, England
Category
Breeches Roles
Day Birth – Day Death
1673 – 1748
Bio
She was the daughter of Martha and Justinian Bracegirdle, who was believed to be a coachman. There are conflicting records on Anne’s life so the precise date and year of her birth is disputed, and therefore very little is known of her early life.
Due to financial ruin, her parents placed her in the care of actors Thomas and Mary Betterton where she learned her acting skills at a very young age. She played the parts of the page boy and the little girl as referred to in playbills for the Duke’s Company before 1688, where Thomas Betterton was a big star. Anne became an important member of the United Company as an audience favourite, which was reflected by the frequency with which she delivered at least nine prologues and twenty-one epilogues to her credit. Despite her sudden departure from the stage in 1705, she had a prosperous acting career and was frequently remarked as an audience and fellow actor favorite.