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Gwynn, Nell
Gwynn, Nell [ Eleanor Gwynn] (1650–87), English actress, who was an orange-girl, probably under Mrs Meggs at Drury Lane, when she attracted the attention of one of the actors. With his help she made her first appearance on the stage in Dryden's The Indian Emperor (1665). She was not a good actress, and owed her success in comedy to her charm and vivacity. Her best part seems to have been Florimel in Dryden's Secret Love (1667), in which she was much admired in male attire. She was first noticed by Charles II when speaking the witty epilogue to Dryden's Tyrannic Love; or, The Royal Martyr (1669). She then became his mistress and left the stage, her last part being Almahide in Dryden's The Conquest of Granada (1670). Tradition has it that the founding of Chelsea Hospital was due to her influence. She became the subject of a number of plays, one of the best known being Paul Kester's Sweet Nell of Old Drury (1900), in which the title-role was played for many years by Julia Neilson.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Gwynn, Nell." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Gwynn, Nell." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-GwynnNell.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Gwynn, Nell." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-GwynnNell.html |
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