Thomas Doggett

Thomas Doggett (or Dogget) (ca. 1640 – 20 September 1721) was an Irish actor. The birth date of 1640 seems unlikely. A more probable date of 1670 is given in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Biography

Doggett was born in Dublin, and made his first stage appearance in London in 1691 as Nincompoop in Thomas D'Urfey's Love for Money. In this part, and as Solon in the same author's Marriage-Hater Matched, he became popular. He followed Betterton to Lincoln's Inn Fields, creating the part of Ben, specially written for him, in William Congreve's Love for Love, with which the theatre opened (1695); and the following year played Young Hobb in his own play, The Country Wake. He was associated with Colley Cibber and others in the management of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, and Drury Lane, and he continued to play comedy parts at the former until his retirement in 1713. Doggett is highly spoken of by his contemporaries, both as an actor and as a man, and is frequently referred to in the Tatler and The Spectator.