Kitty Clive
Pioneering English actress and star comedienne of the 18th-century British stage.
Chronology: 1711-11-05 – 1785-12-06
Origins & Early Life
Catherine "Kitty" Clive (née Raftor; ca. 1711 – 6 December 1785, active 1728–1769) was a first songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainment. Clive led and created new forms of English musical theatre. She was celebrated both in high-style parts – singing, for instance, Handel’s music for her in Messiah, Samson, and The Way of the World – and in low-style ballad opera roles.
Pivotal Works & Achievements
Her likeness was printed and traded in unprecedented volume. She championed women’s rights throughout her career. An image crisis in the late 1740s forced Clive to quit serious song and instead lampoon herself on stage. Though this self-ridicule won Clive public favour back, and she reigned as first comedienne until her retirement in 1769, the strategy’s very success caused her musical legacy to be slighted and forgotten. A definitive biography of Clive by Berta Joncus appeared in 2019.
Enduring Legacy & Impact
== Background == Clive was the daughter of William Raftor (variant spelling: Rafter), a dispossessed Jacobite Catholic landowner from Kilkenny, Ireland who emigrated to London and married Elizabeth Daniell, a leather-seller’s daughter. The precise date of Clive’s birth and her baptismal name are unclear: historians...
Source: Wikipedia