John Moody

Moody, John, a well-known actor, born, probably in Cork, in 1727. The poet Churchill wrote of him:

"Long from a nation ever hardly used,
At random censured, wantonly abused,
Have Britons drawn their sport with partial view,
Form'd general notions from the rascal few;
Condemn'd a people, as for vices known,
Which, from their country banished, seek our own.
Taught by thee, Moody, we now learn to raise
Mirth from their foibles-from their virtues praise."

Few particulars are given of his life. He showed both spirit and tact in managing the unruly theatrical mobs of the time. In 1796 he retired from the stage, after fifty years' service, and died in London, 26th December 1812, aged 84. The Gentleman's Magazine, in a notice that throws some doubt on his Irish birth, calls him the "father of the English stage... His character was uniformly unblemished, and for kindness as well as probity he had long been a sort of pater patriae behind the scenes."

Sources

3. Actors, Representative: W. Clark Russell. London,1875.

116. Dublin University Magazine (62). Dublin, 1833-'77.

146. Gentleman's Magazine. London, 1731-1868.
Gilbert, John T., see Nos. 110, 335.