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Mary Knep (died 1681), also Knepp, Nepp, Knip, or Knipp, was an English actress and one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage during the Restoration era.^[1]

Acting career

Knep was primarily a singer and dancer, but "developed into a first-rate actress".^[2] She began her career with the King's Company, which was under the management of Thomas Killigrew.

She made her debut in the title role of Jonson's Epicene on 1 June 1664. Before this, she had been cast as Lucetta in Killigrew's 1664 planned production of his Thomaso, with an all-female cast, but this had been cancelled before completion.

Knep played major and minor roles in a range of productions of the 1660s and 1670s, including:

the Widow in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Scornful Lady, 1666
Guiomar in Fletcher and Massinger's The Custom of the Country, 1667
Alibech in Dryden's The Indian Emperour, the 1667 revival
Asteria in Dryden's The Maiden Queen, 1667
Beatrix in Dryden's An Evening's Love, 1668
Aminta in Fletcher and Massinger's The Sea Voyage, 1668
Nakar and Felicia in Dryden's Tyrannick Love, 1669
Lady Flippant in Wycherly's Love in a Wood, 1671
Hyppolita in Dryden's The Assignation, 1672
Lady Fidget in Wycherly's The Country Wife, 1675
Eliza in Wycherly's The Plain Dealer, 1676
Mrs. Dorothy in d'Urfey's Trick for Trick, 1678 — her last known role.

In addition to playing these and other parts, Knep also sang and danced in plays and spoke Prologues and Epilogues.

She never achieved the same fame as her younger contemporary Nell Gwyn; in 1672 Knep secured the lead female role in The Assignation, but the play was a flop.

Personal life

Knep was reportedly "the wife of a Smithfield horsedealer, and the mistress of Pepys" — or at least (according to Cunningham) "she granted him a share of her favours".^[3] Scholars disagree on the full extent of the Pepys/Knep relationship; but much of what we know about Knep comes from Samuel Pepys' famous private diary.

Pepys first met Knep on 6 December 1665; he described her as "pretty enough, but the most excellent, mad-humoured thing, and sings the noblest that I ever heard in my life." He called her husband "an ill, melancholy, jealous-looking fellow"^[4] and suspected him of abusing her. Knep provided Pepys with backstage access, and was a conduit for theatrical and social gossip. When they wrote notes to each other, Pepys signed himself "Dapper Dickey," while Knep was "Barbary Allen" (a popular song that was an item in her musical repertory).

She may have been a mistress of Sir Charles Sedley,^[5] and in the late 1670s she became the mistress of actor Joseph Haines.

Knep had at least one child, a son born in June 1666. She died in childbirth in 1681.

References

^ John Harold Wilson, All the King's Ladies: Actresses of the Restoration, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1958. [1]
^ Wilson, p. 154.
^ Peter Cunningham, The Story of Nell Gwyn, Gordon Goodwin, ed., Edinburgh, John Grant, 1908; pp. 12, 171.
^ Pepys' Diary entry of 8 December 1665.
^ John Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, London, 1708; Montague Summers, ed., London, Fortune Press [no date]; reprinted New York, Benjamin Blom, 1963; p. 93.

[1] John Harold Wilson, All the King's Ladies: Actresses of the Restoration, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1958. [1]

[2] Wilson, p. 154.

[3] Peter Cunningham, The Story of Nell Gwyn, Gordon Goodwin, ed., Edinburgh, John Grant, 1908; pp. 12, 171.

[4] Pepys' Diary entry of 8 December 1665.

[5] John Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, London, 1708; Montague Summers, ed., London, Fortune Press [no date]; reprinted New York, Benjamin Blom, 1963; p. 93.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|English actress (died 1681)}}
-'''Mary Knep''' (died 1681), also '''Knepp''', '''Nepp''', '''Knip''', or '''Knipp''', was an [[English people|English]] [[actress]], one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage during the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] era.<ref>John Harold Wilson, ''All the King's Ladies: Actresses of the Restoration'', Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1958. [http://www.archive.org/stream/allthekingsladie007879mbp/allthekingsladie007879mbp_djvu.txt]</ref>
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
+'''Mary Knep''' (died 1681), also '''Knepp''', '''Nepp''', '''Knip''', or '''Knipp''', was an [[English people|English]] [[actress]] and one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage during the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] era.<ref>John Harold Wilson, ''All the King's Ladies: Actresses of the Restoration'', Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1958. [https://archive.org/stream/allthekingsladie007879mbp/allthekingsladie007879mbp_djvu.txt]</ref>
+== Acting career ==
-"Primarily a singer and dancer, Mrs. Knep developed into a first-rate actress."<ref>Wilson, p. 154.</ref> She began her career with the [[King's Company]] under the management of [[Thomas Killigrew]]. She made her debut in the title role of [[Ben Jonson|Jonson's]] ''[[Epicoene, or the Silent Woman|Epicene]]'' on 1 June 1664. (She was cast as Lucetta in Killigrew's 1664 planned production of his ''[[Thomaso]]'', with an all-female cast, which was cancelled before completion.) Knep played major and minor roles in a range of productions of the 1660s and 1670s, including:
+Knep was primarily a singer and dancer, but "developed into a first-rate actress".<ref>Wilson, p. 154.</ref> She began her career with the [[King's Company]], which was under the management of [[Thomas Killigrew]].
+She made her debut in the title role of [[Ben Jonson|Jonson's]] ''[[Epicoene, or the Silent Woman|Epicene]]'' on 1 June 1664. Before this, she had been cast as Lucetta in Killigrew's 1664 planned production of his ''[[Thomaso]]'', with an all-female cast, but this had been cancelled before completion.
+Knep played major and minor roles in a range of productions of the 1660s and 1670s, including:
 * the Widow in [[Beaumont and Fletcher]]'s ''[[The Scornful Lady]]'', 1666
@@ Line 10: / Line 17: @@
 * Aminta in Fletcher and Massinger's ''[[The Sea Voyage]]'', 1668
 * Nakar and Felicia in Dryden's ''[[Tyrannick Love]]'', 1669
-* Ladt Flippant in [[William Wycherly|Wycherly's]] ''Love in a Wood'', 1671
+* Lady Flippant in [[William Wycherly|Wycherly's]] ''[[Love in a Wood (play)|Love in a Wood]]'', 1671
 * Hyppolita in Dryden's ''[[The Assignation]]'', 1672
 * Lady Fidget in Wycherly's ''[[The Country Wife]]'', 1675
 * Eliza in Wycherly's ''[[The Plain Dealer]]'', 1676
-* Mrs. Dorothy in [[Thomas d'Urfey|d'Urfey's]] ''Trick for Trick'', 1678 — her last known role.
+* Mrs. Dorothy in [[Thomas d'Urfey|d'Urfey's]] ''[[Trick for Trick (1678 play)|Trick for Trick]]'', 1678 — her last known role.
-In addition to playing these and other parts, Knep also sang and danced in plays and spoke Prologues and Epilogues. She never achieved the same fame as her younger contemporary [[Nell Gwyn]]; Knep had the lead female role in ''The Assignation'' — but the play was a flop.
+In addition to playing these and other parts, Knep also sang and danced in plays and spoke Prologues and Epilogues.
+She never achieved the same fame as her younger contemporary [[Nell Gwyn]]; in 1672 Knep secured the lead female role in ''[[The Assignation]]'', but the play was a flop.
-"Mrs. Knep was the wife of a [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]] horsedealer, and the mistress of Pepys" &mdash; or at least "she granted him a share of her favours."<ref>Peter Cunningham, ''The Story of Nell Gwyn'', Gordon Goodwin, ed., Edinburgh, John Grant, 1908; pp. 12, 171.</ref> Scholars disagree on the full extent of the Pepys/Knep relationship; but much of what later generations have known about Knep comes from [[Samuel Pepys]]' famous Diary. Pepys first met Knep on 6 December 1665; he described her as "pretty enough, but the most excellent, mad-humoured thing, and sings the noblest that I ever heard in my life." He called her husband "an ill, melancholy, jealous-looking fellow"<ref>Pepys' Diary entry of 8 December 1665.</ref> and suspected him of abusing his wife. Knep provided Pepys with backstage access, and was a conduit for theatrical and social gossip. When they wrote notes to each other, Pepys signed himself "Dapper Dickey," while Knep was "Barbary Allen" (that popular song was an item in her musical repertory).
+== Personal life ==
-Mrs. Knep had at least one child, a son born in June 1666. She may have been a mistress of Sir [[Charles Sedley]].<ref>[[John Downes]], ''Roscius Anglicanus'', London, 1708; Montague Summers, ed., London, Fortune Press [no date]; reprinted New York, Benjamin Blom, 1963; p. 93.</ref> In the late 1670s she became the mistress of actor [[Joseph Haines]]; Knep died in childbirth in 1681.
+Knep was reportedly "the wife of a [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]] horsedealer, and the mistress of Pepys" &mdash; or at least (according to Cunningham) "she granted him a share of her favours".<ref>Peter Cunningham, ''The Story of Nell Gwyn'', Gordon Goodwin, ed., Edinburgh, John Grant, 1908; pp. 12, 171.</ref> Scholars disagree on the full extent of the Pepys/Knep relationship; but much of what we know about Knep comes from [[Samuel Pepys]]' famous private diary.
+Pepys first met Knep on 6 December 1665; he described her as "pretty enough, but the most excellent, mad-humoured thing, and sings the noblest that I ever heard in my life." He called her husband "an ill, melancholy, jealous-looking fellow"<ref>Pepys' Diary entry of 8 December 1665.</ref> and suspected him of abusing her. Knep provided Pepys with backstage access, and was a conduit for theatrical and social gossip. When they wrote notes to each other, Pepys signed himself "Dapper Dickey," while Knep was "[[Barbara Allen (song)|Barbary Allen]]" (a popular song that was an item in her musical repertory).
+She may have been a mistress of Sir [[Charles Sedley]],<ref>[[John Downes (prompter)|John Downes]], ''Roscius Anglicanus'', London, 1708; Montague Summers, ed., London, Fortune Press [no date]; reprinted New York, Benjamin Blom, 1963; p. 93.</ref> and in the late 1670s she became the mistress of actor [[Joseph Haines]].
+Knep had at least one child, a son born in June 1666. She died in childbirth in 1681.
 ==References==
 {{reflist|2}}
+{{authority control}}
-{{Persondata
-| NAME              = Knep, Mary
-| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
-| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
-| DATE OF BIRTH     =
-| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
-| DATE OF DEATH     = 1681
-| PLACE OF DEATH    =
-}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Knep, Mary}}
 [[Category:17th-century English actresses]]
+[[Category:English stage actresses]]
 [[Category:1681 deaths]]
 [[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
-[[Category:17th-century English actors]]
+[[Category:17th-century English women singers]]