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From 1759 onwards she appeared in the bills as "Mrs
Abington", following her marriage to her music tutor, the royal trumpeter James Abington. They separated shortly after their marriage as he could not cope with her popularity. They lived separately, with Fanny paying James a small annual stipend to
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She was born
Frances Barton (nicknamed "Fanny"), as the daughter of a private soldier. She began her career as a flower girl and a street singer. It was also rumoured that she recited
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in taverns at the age of 12, along with being a prostitute for a short period to help her family with financial problems. Later, she became a servant to a French
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I never saw a part done so excellent in all my life, for in her acting she has all the simplicity of nature and not the least tincture of the theatrical.
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A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660–1800. Vol. 1, Abaco to
Belfille
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stay away from her. She subsequently had affairs with an Irish MP, Needham, who left her a considerable estate, and
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165:; 1737 – 4 March 1815) was an English actress who was also known for her sense of fashion. Writer and politician
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She remained at the Drury Lane for 18 years, being the first to play more than 30 important characters, notably
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Her wealth and popularity meant she influenced fashion. The press reported on her hair styles: her low hair in
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convinced her to return to Drury Lane, and they worked together there until his retirement in 1776.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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Rival queens : actresses, performance, and the eighteenth-century
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The Life of Mrs
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568:. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 64.
431:. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 226–264.
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painted the best-known of his half-dozen or more portraits of her (
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was praised for changing the fashion. Her performance as Kitty in "
617:"Mrs Abington" by Sir Joshua Reynolds Yale Center for British Arts
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Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman; Langhans, Edward (1973).
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described her as one of the finest actors of their time, and
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Frances
Abington died on 4 March 1815 at her home on
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