William Mountfort (c. 1664 – 10 December 1692),

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and dramatic writer, was the son of a

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gentleman.

Biography

His first stage appearance was with the

Dorset Garden Theatre The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the D ...

company about 1678, and by 1682 he was taking important parts, usually those of the fine

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. Mountfort wrote a number of plays, wholly or in part, and many prologues and epilogues. In 1686 he married the actress Susanna Percival. Owing to jealousy of Mrs. Anne Bracegirdle's supposed interest in Mountfort, Captain Richard Hill, an adventurer, who had annoyed her with persistent attentions, accompanied by Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun ambushed Mountfort in Howard Street,

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, on 9 December 1692. During the struggle Mountfort was stabbed in the chest by Hill, and he died of his wounds the following day. Following the attack Hill fled to

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. Lord Mohun was tried by his peers and acquitted by a vote of 69 to 14. The bell of St Clement's Church is reputed to have cracked when tolled at Mountfort's funeral. His daughter

Susanna Mountfort Susanna Mountfort (1690-1720) was a British stage actress. She was the daughter of the actors William Mountfort and his wife Susanna Mountfort. In 1692 her father was killed in a duel and her mother remarried and became known as Susanna Verbrug ...

became an actor at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

Works

An anthology of his plays, entitled ''Six Plays'', was published by J. Tonson, G. Strahan and William Mears in two volumes (1719-20) accompanied by a preface consisting of some memoirs of his life. The plays were: * ''

The Injured Lovers ''The Injured Lovers; Or, The Ambitious Father'' is a 1688 tragedy by the English writer William Mountfort. It was premiered by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Rheusanes, Josep ...

'' (1688) * ''

The Successful Strangers ''The Successful Strangers'' is a 1690 tragicomedy by the English writer William Mountfort. The original Drury Lane cast included Joseph Williams as Don Carlos, George Powell as Antonio, William Mountfort as Silvio, James Nokes James Nokes (N ...

'' (1690) * ''

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'' (1691) * '' King Edward the Third , with the Fall of Mortimer Earl of March'' (generally attributed to John Bancroft) * ''The life and death of Dr. Faustus'' * '' Henry the Second, King of England, with the Death of Rosamond'' (1692) (also attributed to John Bancroft) It is believed that his 1705 play ''Zelmane: Or, The Corinthian Queen: A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the New-theatre in Lincolns-Inn-Fields'' has the first appearance of the expression, "Be still my beating heart."

References

;Attribution *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountfort, William 1664 births 1692 deaths English male stage actors 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights 17th-century English male actors People murdered in Westminster English murder victims English male dramatists and playwrights Deaths by stabbing in London Male murder victims