Actress. Also known as ‘Peg’, she was the first recorded actress on the English stage. Before her time, only boys and men were allowed to play female roles. Her ground-breaking debut was as ‘Desdemona’ in a 1660 performance of William Shakespear’s “Othello”. Diarist Samuel Pepys records how, in the late 1660’s, he was delighted to receive a kiss from her. Her acting career tailed off after she became the mistress of the King’s uncle, Prince Rupert. A visitor to court observed that she was one of the most gracious and chaste women there, although another observer commented that this particular feat was not difficult. She gave birth to the Prince’s illegitimate daughter Ruperta, and was bequeathed a considerable sum upon Rupert’s death. She seems to have spent her inheritance quite rapidly, and retired to Eltham in Kent, where she died and was buried at Old Saint Margaret Lee (better known as the resting place of the astronmer Edmund Halley). She was portrayed by the actress Claire Danes in the movie ‘Stage Beauty’. (bio by: Mark McManus)