The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Woffington, Margaret

WOFFINGTON, Margaret, commonly called Peg Woffington, an Irish actress, born in Dublin in 1718 or 1719, died March 28, 1760. She was of poor parentage, and when she was about nine years old was one of a company of children who performed in a show booth. A few years afterward she appeared in Dublin, and obtained an engagement at one of the principal theatres, where she played with great success. In 1740 she made her first appearance in London at Covent Garden, where, except for a short time, she continued to perform until her retirement from the stage in 1759. She was remarkably beautiful, and has rarely been excelled as a comic actress. Her early life was exceedingly loose, but she reformed, and became simple in her tastes and habits, devout, and respectable.