Mrs. Jordan's Profession: The Actress and the Prince
Tomalin presents a sympathetically and painstaking docubiography of Dora Jordan (1761-1816), one of the most acclaimed British comic and comi-tragedy actresses of her day, rivaled in abilty only by Mrs. Siddons. Dora's talent, industry, generosity, and loving nature formed her tragic flaw; illegitimate herself, powerlessly taken advantage of by men of higher social status, she attracted Prince William, who became Duke of Clarence, and lived with him as surrogate spouse through 20 years and ten children. Her earnings as an actress staunched his debts. He abandoned her to make a royal marriage, leaving her in poverty and illness in France, where she had fled to avoid debtors' prison for her son-in-law's debts. Upon becoming King William IV in 1830, one of his first acts was to commission a statue of her. Of interest to theater history, women's studies, and culture studies.?Marilyn Gaddis Rose, Univ. of Binghamton, N.Y.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.