Theophilus Cibber

In 1727, Alexander Pope satirised Theophilus Cibber in his Dunciad as a youth who "thrusts his person full into your face" (III 132).

Cibber senior became disenchanted by the involvement of Wilks' widow, through her representative John Ellys, in the management of the company.

[4] Cibber junior took the lead in the management of the theatre during the 1732–33 season, until he fell ill.[5] The actions of Ellys and Highmore in his absence, which appear to have been largely centred on saving or making money, irritated Theophilus and friction grew between them.

[12] Unusually, Susannah Maria insisted on a prenuptial agreement that protected her own property and income by placing it in the hands of two trustees, who released it to her in small amounts.

The Cibbers had established a ménage à trois with John Sloper, a country squire, from whom Theophilus accepted money.

[15] The three of them set up house together in Kensington, for which Sloper paid the rent and maintenance, until Cibber slipped away to France to escape his creditors.

[19] Becoming greedy, Cibber sued Sloper for £5,000 damages for criminal conversation, which he described as threatening "his peace of mind, his happiness, and his hopes of posterity".

[20] The defence said of Cibber: "He takes his money, lets him maintain his family, resigns his wife to him, and then comes to court for justice, for reparation in damages."

[22] Susannah went to Ireland and a concert season with Handel while the scandal died down, but later returned to have a successful career at Drury Lane, working with David Garrick and becoming famous as a tragic actress.

On the trip to Ireland, his ship, the Dublin Trader with about 60 passengers on board, foundered in a storm, and was wrecked on the Scottish coast.

[29] Theophilus' plays, which include the ballad opera Patie and Peggie, the comedy The Lover, the farce The Auction and the pantomime The Harlot's Progress, are of no great merit.

Theophilus' authorship of Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, to the Time of Dean Swift (1753) is disputed; Samuel Johnson claimed that it was written by Robert Shiels.

[30] In April 1740, Theophilus' father published an autobiography, An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian, which was a commercial success.

[32] In July, An Apology for the Life of Mr. T[heophilus] C[ibber], Comedian: Being a Proper Sequel to The Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Comedian, with an Historical View of the Stage to the Present Year / Supposed to be Written by Himself in the Style and Manner of the Poet Laureate, was published but Theophilus was not the author.