updated: 26/04/2006
Nell Gwynn (or Gwyn or Gwynne), (1650—1687), was one of the earliest English actresses and a long-time mistress of king Charles II. Her mother ran a brothel and Nell first made a living selling oranges in the pit of a London theatre, while probably procuring actresses for the men in the audience. When she was fifteen she became an actress – definitely not a respectable profession at that time – and was reportedly a sensation. When she was nineteen she became the king’s mistress, having previously been the mistress of Lord Buckhurst and of Sir Charles Sedley. She was the only one of Charles II’s many mistresses to be genuinely popular with the English public. Although she was often caricatured as an empty-headed woman John Dryden said that her greatest attribute was her native wit and Samuel Pepys called her ‘pretty, witty Nell’. She accumulated enormous debts and on his deathbed Charles asked his brother: ‘Let not poor Nelly starve.’ James II duly paid most of her debts and gave her a pension of £1500 year, a huge sum in 1685, but she died of apoplexy only two years later, aged thirty seven.
Stage Beauty: Nell Gwynn (Zoe Tapper) is instrumental in Charles II’s decision to allow actresses to portray female characters on the stage – yes I know she had herself already been an actress. Lisa Westcott was the makeup designer.
Charles II: The Power & The Passion: coming soon.
England, My England: coming soon.
The First Churchills: coming soon.
Nell Gwyn: King Charles II first meets Nell Gwyn (Anna Neagle) after seeing her do a turn at Drury Lane. Nell becomes his most loyal subject but the irreverent actress can never hope to be fully accepted by the King’s circle. If anyone can clarify the makeup credits for this movie, please email me.
Nell Gwynne: Nell Gwynne (Dorothy Gish), a young, poor street vendor, meets the King of England and wins his heart. He fulfills her dreams to become an actress and she is thrown into society. If anyone can clarify the makeup credits for this movie, please email me.