Elizabeth Hartley (actress) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Hartley
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Elizabeth Hartley by Joshua Reynolds
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Elizabeth White
1751 Berrow, Somerset, England
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| Died | 1 February 1824 (aged 73) King Street, Woolwich, London, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actress |
Elizabeth Hartley (née White) (1750?–1824) was one of the most celebrated actors on the London stage in the 1700s.
Life
Elizabeth Hartley was the daughter of James and Eleanor White of Berrow, Somerset, England. She later took the name Hartley, but it is not known from whom.
After a season in Edinburgh she moved to Bristol.
Her first appearance at the Covent Garden theatre was as Jane Shore on 5 October 1772. It was said concerning her debut that "she is deserving of much praise, her figure is quite elegant, her countenance pleasing and expressive, her voice in general melodious, and her action just."
However, writing about her performance in her next role as Queen Catherine in Henry VIII the same journal wrote that she had "frequently sunk into a whining monotony which from the length of some of the speeches became very disagreeable".
Her looks were more often praised than her acting, but she was popular with audiences. Her portrait was depicted by many artists including Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, John Downman, John Keyse Sherwin and Angelica Kauffman.
"She was a very beautiful woman, and a good actress in parts that were not beyond her powers; her forte was tenderness, not rage".
She worked at the Covent Garden theatre in a numerous roles until 1780, and also appeared at Drury Lane, Liverpool and Stroud.
She left the stage at the close of the season of 1779–80 when aged only 30, possibly due to ill health. There is no record of the rest of her life except for the fact that she died at King Street, Woolwich, on 1 February 1824. She was buried on 6 February under the name of White. Her will left £100 to the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund.
Roles
Edinburgh 1771–1772
- Monimia: The Orphan
- Desdemona: Othello
- Cordelia: King Lear
- Almeria: The Mourning Bride
- Angelica: The Constant Wife
- Belvidera: Venice Preserv'd
- Calista: The Fair Penitent
- Constance: George Farquhar's The Twin Rivals
- Lady Percy: Henry IV, Part 1
- Mary Queen of Scots: Bank's The Albion Queens
- Anne Bullen: Henry VIII
Bristol 1772
- Jane Shore: Nicholas Rowe's The Tragedy of Jane Shore
- Indiana: The Conscious Lovers
- Louisa Dudley: The West Indian
- Euphrasia: Murphy's The Grecian Daughter
London 1772–1780
- Jane Shore: Nicholas Rowe's The Tragedy of Jane Shore, October 1772
- Queen Catherine: Henry VIII November 1772
- Elfrida: Mason's tragedy Elfrida, November 1772
- Orellana: Murphy's Alzuma, Feb 1773
- Alcmena: Amphitryon, March 1773
- Statira: Nathaniel Lee's The Rival Queens, March 1773
- Lady Macbeth Macbeth, March 1773
- Ismena: John Hoole's Timanthes, April 1773
- Cleopatra: All for Love April 1773
- Portia: Julius Caesar, May 1773
- Juliet: Romeo and Juliet, May 1773
- Rosamond: Thomas Hull's Henry II or The Fall of Rosamond, May 1773
- Hermione: The Winter's Tale, 1774
- Mariamne: Samuel Pordage's Herod and Mariamne, 1774
- Almeyda: Dryden's Don Sebastian, 1774
- Lady Jane Grey: Nicholas Rowe's Lady Jane Grey
- Cleonice: Hoole's Cleonice, March 1775
- Evelina: Mason's Caractacus, December 1776
- Isabella: Savage's Sir Thomas Overbury, February 1777
- Miss Neville: Murphy's Know Your Own Mind, February 1777
- Rena: Buthred, December 1778
- Julia: Hannah More's Fatal Falsehood, May 1779
- Lady Frances Touchwood: Hannah Cowley's The Belle's Stratagem, Feb 1780
- Rutland: Henry Jones's The Earl of Essex
- Andromache: Ambrose Philips's The Distress's Mother
- Marcia: Cato
- Ethelinda: Nicholas Rowe's The Royal Convert
- Olivia: Twelfth Night
- Miss Willoughby: A Word to the Wise
- Sigismunda: James Thomson's Tancred and Sigismunda
- Leonora: The Revenge (attributed to Aphra Behn)
- The Abbess: The Comedy of Errors
- The Queen: Richard III
- Eudocia: John Hughes's Siege of Damascus
- Agapea: Richard Cumberland's Widow of Delphi
Portraiture
- Richard Houston, after Hugh Douglas Hamilton, (1771) Mrs Hartly
- Joshua Reynolds, (1771) Mrs Hartley as a Nymph with a Young Bacchus
- Maria Anna Angelica Catherina Kauffman, (1774) Hermione
- Joshua Reynolds,(1772?) Elizabeth Hartley (1751–1824) as Rowe's Jane Shore
- after Edward Fisher, (1776) Elizabeth Hartley
- Mrs Hartley as Andromache in "The Distrest Mother", (1777)
- Walker, after Daniel Dodd, (1777) Mrs. HARTLEY in the Character of MARCIA
- James Caldwall, by S. Smith, after George Carter, (1783) Immortality of Garrick
- Samuel William Reynolds, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, (1834) Mrs Hartley
