Oldfield, Anne [ Nance Oldfield] (1683–1730), English actress, who succeeded Mrs
Bracegirdle as one of the leading players at
Drury Lane. She first came into prominence when Colley
Cibber, struck by her playing of Leonora in a revival of Crowne's
Sir Courtly Nice, cast her as Lady Betty Modish in his own play
The Careless Husband (1704). From then on her career was one of unbroken triumph. Lovely in face and figure, she had an exceptionally beautiful voice and clear diction, and
Voltaire said of her that she was the only English actress whose speech he could follow without difficulty. She was particularly admired as Silvia in
The Recruiting Officer (1706) and as Mrs Sullen in
The Beaux' Stratagem (1707), both by
Farquhar, who first encouraged her to go on the stage, but she was also considered outstanding in tragedy, playing with majesty and power such parts as Andromache in
Philips's The Distrest Mother (1712) and the title-role in
Rowe's Jane Shore (1714). She much preferred comedy, however, and in the year of her retirement gave a highly acclaimed performance as Lady Townly in
The Provoked Husband (1728), based by Cibber on
A Journey to London, an unfinished play by
Vanbrugh. She made her last appearance in
Fielding's first play,
Love in Several Masques (also 1728), and after her death two years later was buried in Westminster Abbey, near
Congreve, but was not allowed a monument over her grave, because she had had two illegitimate sons.
