John Corey () was an English stage actor and playwright of the eighteenth century. His name is sometime written as John Cory. Born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

of a Cornish family, he first acted on the London stage in 1701 have originally studied law at the

Inns of Chancery The Inns of Chancery or ''Hospida Cancellarie'' were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from a ...

. He was therefore unlikely to have been the son of the Restoration actress

Katherine Corey Katherine Corey (fl. 1660–1692) was an English actress of the Restoration era, one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage in Britain. Corey played with the King's Company and the United Company, and had one o ...

. Between 1701 and 1735 he was a mainstay of the

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

, Haymarket and

Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, ...

companies. Late in his career he appeared at the

Goodman's Fields Theatre Two 18th century theatres bearing the name Goodman's Fields Theatre were located on Alie Street, Whitechapel, London. The first opened on 31 October 1727 in a small shop by Thomas Odell, deputy Licenser of Plays. The first play performed was ...

run by

Henry Giffard Henry Giffard (1694 – 20 October 1772) was a British stage actor and theatre manager. Early life Although there is some uncertainty about his early years, he is described as being the son of William Giffard. Born in London – in Lincoln's I ...

.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.492-93 He also wrote two plays which were performed at Lincoln's Inn Fields early in his career there.

Selected roles

* Seleuchus in ''

Antiochus the Great Antiochus III the Great (; , ; 3 July 187 BC) was the sixth ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 223 to 187 BC. He ruled over the Syria (region), region of Syria and large parts of the rest of West Asia towards the end of the 3rd century B ...

'' by Jane Wiseman (1701) * Mirvan in ''

Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...

'' by Nicholas Rowe (writer), Nicholas Rowe (1701) * Colonel Many in ''The Beau's Duel'' by Susanna Centlivre (1702) * Careles in ''The Different Widows'' by Mary Pix (1703) * Dorante in ''The Gamester (Centlivre play), The Gamester'' by Susanna Centlivre (1705) * Erici in ''The Revolution of Sweden'' by Catharine Trotter Cockburn, Catherine Cockburn (1706) * Don Philip in ''Adventures in Madrid'' by Mary Pix (1706) * Barzanes in ''The Persian Princess'' by Lewis Theobald (1708) * Easy in ''The Fair Quaker of Deal'' by Charles Shadwell (playwright), Charles Shadwell (1710) * Gonsalvo in ''The Perfidious Brother'' by Lewis Theobald (1716) * Lelius in ''Scipio Africanus (play), Scipio Africanus'' by Charles Beckingham (1718) * Menenius in ''The Invader of His Country'' by John Dennis (dramatist), John Dennis (1719) * Agesilius in ''The Spartan Dame'' by Thomas Southerne (1719) * Salisbury in ''Sir Walter Raleigh (play), Sir Walter Raleigh'' by George Sewell (physician), George Sewell (1719) * Amiens in ''Love in a Forest'' by Charles Johnson (writer), Charles Johnson (1730) * Orthagoros in ''Timoleon (play), Timoleon'' by Benjamin Martyn (1730) * Therapios in ''Medea (Johnson play), Medea'' by Charles Johnson (writer), Charles Johnson (1730) * Ariston in ''Eurydice (Mallet play), Eurydice'' by David Mallet (writer), David Mallet (1731)

References

Bibliography

* Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: Volume VIII''. SIU Press, 1978. 18th-century English male actors English male stage actors 18th-century British male actors Writers from Barnstaple Male actors from Devon {{England-stage-actor-stub