WOFFINGTON, MARGARET 714. . ? 6 ) EG„ –17 0, English actress, was born at Dublin, of poor parents on Oct. 18, probably in 1714. As a child of ten she played Polly Peachum in a Lilliputian presentation of The Beggar's Opera, and danced and acted in Dublin theatres until 1740, when her success as Sir Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple secured her a London engagement. In this, and as Sylvia in The Recruiting she had a great success; and at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, as well as in Dublin, she appeared in all the plays of the day. Among
her best impersonations were the elegant women of fashion, like Lady Betty Modish and Lady Townley, and in "breeches parts" she was unapproachable. She built and endowed almshouses at Teddington, where she lived after her retirement in 1757. She died there in i76o.
See Austin Dobson's introduction to Charles Reade's novel Peg W offington (1899), and Augustin Daly's W offington: a Tribute to the Actress and the Woman (1888).