Original sentence: A common theory holds that the seventeen-year-old Barry at first performed so unskillfully that she was fired from the company several times, but was transformed into a brilliant actress by the coaching of her lover, the Earl of Rochester.While multiple sources confirm that Rochester was Barry's lover, the only source for the coaching theory is the publicist Edmund Curll, who presented it as fact in 1740—65 years after the actual events
Edited sentence: A story that is widely repeated, but given little credence by modern scholars, is that the seventeen-year-old Barry at first performed so unskillfully that she was fired from the company several times, but was transformed into a brilliant actress by the coaching of her lover, the Earl of Rochester.It is well-documented that Rochester was Barry's lover, but the only source for the coaching anecdote is from the notoriously inventive publicist Edmund Curll in 1740, 65 years after the supposed events