Cibber, Colley (1671-1757)

English actor, dramatist, and poet. He wrote numerous plays, such as Love's Last Shift, or The Fool in Fashion (1696) and The Careless Husband (1705), and acted in many parts. In 1709 he became a joint proprietor of the Drury Lane Theatre, London, and was the first manager to run a theatre on strictly business lines. He was poet laureate from 1730.

His first play, Love's Last Shift (written to provide a bigger part for himself), was so successful that John Vanbrugh wrote a sequel to it, The Relapse (1696), in which Cibber played Lord Foppington.

Cibber initiated the reaction away from Restoration drama by introducing a moral tone into his comedies. He was at his best in eccentric comedy, his voice being too thin for declamatory roles. In 1740 he published An Apology for the Life of Mr Colley Cibber, Comedian.