English actor and dramatic writer
Born c.1664 Died 1692
William Mountfort was the son of a Staffordshire gentleman. His first stage appearance was with the Dorset Garden company about 1678, and by 1682 he was taking important parts, usually those of the fine gentleman. Mountfort wrote a number of plays, wholly or in part, and many prologues and epilogues.
He married, in 1686, Susanna Percival (see VERBRUGGEN, MRS), the actress. Owing to jealousy of Mrs Bracegirdle's supposed interest in Mountfort, Captain Richard Hill, an adventurer, who had annoyed her with persistent attentions, accompanied by Charles, fifth Baron Mohun1, murdered Mountfort in Howard Street, Strand, on the 9th of December 1692. Hill made his escape. Lord Mohun was tried by his peers and acquitted by a vote of 69 to 14.
1 Editor's note: This is incorrect, it was Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun. There was no fifth Baron Mohun.
Being the entry for MOUNTFORT, WILLIAM in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, the text of which lies within the public domain.