BADDELEY, ROBERT (c. 1732-1794), English actor, is said to have been first a cook to Samuel Foote, and then a valet, before he appeared on the stage. In 1761, described as "of Drury Lane theatre," he was seen at the theatre in Smock Alley, Dublin, as Gomez in Dryden's Spanish Friar. Two years later he was a regular member of the Drury Lane company in London, where he had a great success in the low comedy and servants' parts. He remained at this theatre and the Haymarket until his death. He was the original Moses in The School for Scandal. Baddeley died on Nov. 20, 1794. He bequeathed property to found a home for infirm actors, and also L3 per annum to provide wine and cake in the green-room of Drury Lane theatre on Twelfth Night. The ceremony of the Baddeley cake has remained a regular institution.
His wife SOPHIA BADDELEY an actress and singer, was born in London, the daughter of a sergeant-trumpeter named Snow. At the age of 18 she ran away with Baddeley, then acting at Drury Lane, and made her first appearance on the stage there on April 27 1765, as Ophelia. Later, as a singer, she obtained engagements at Ranelagh and Vauxhall.
See Memoirs of Mistress Sophia Baddeley, by Mrs. Elizabeth Steele (1781).