him cast as
Alexas in Pordage's _Herod and Mariamne_, 1673; Titiro in Settle's
_Pastor Fido_, 1676; Pedro in Porter's _The French Conjurer_, and
Noddy in _The Counterfeit Bridegroom_, 1677. He was, it is almost
certain, the husband of the famous Mrs. Mary Lee. Downes' entry runs
as follows: '_Note_, About the year 1670, Mrs. _Aldridge_, after
Mrs. _Lee_, after Lady _Slingsby_, also Mrs. _Leigh_ Wife, Mr. _John
Lee_, Mr. _Crosby_, Mrs. _Johnson_, were entertain'd in the Dukes
House.' There is of course some confusion here. Antony Leigh, it may
be noted, is not mentioned in the _Roscius Anglicanus_ for another
three years to come (1673), and there can be little doubt that the
above passage should read 'also Mrs. Leigh's [Lee's] husband, Mr
John Lee'. If this were not so, there would be no point in Downes
mentioning so minor an actor at this juncture and in such a list.
Crosby and Mrs. Johnson were both performers of great merit, in fact
Downes, a page later, has a special warm word of praise for the lady
whom we find cast as Carolina in Shadwell's _Epsom Wells_ (1672).
Crosby played such parts as Mr. Cleverwit, Lucia's lover, in
Ravenscroft's _Mamamouchi_ (1672), Alonzo in _Abdelazer_ (1677),
Leander Fancy in _Sir Patient Fancy_ (1678). John Lee disappears
entirely after 1677, and his widow is first billed as Lady Slingsby
in 1681. For a full account of this great tragedienne see note on
_Abdelazer_, Vol. II.

Mrs. Elizabeth Leigh, Moretta in _The Rover_, Part I, who is so
persistently confused with Mrs. Mary Lee, was the wife of Antony
Leigh, the celebrated comedian. In Betterton's comedy, _The Revenge_
(1680), when she acted Mrs. Dashit, she is billed as Mrs. A. Lee.
Her husband died in December, 1692. Their son Michael also gave
great promise on the boards. The lad's name occurs in the cast of
Shadwell's _The Amorous Bigot_ (1690) as 'young Leigh', when he
played Diego, a servant, to his father's Tegue o' Divelly, the Irish
friar. Unfortunately he died at an early age, probably in the winter
of 1701, but his younger brother Francis attained considerable
success. Frank Leigh made his debut at Lincoln's Inn's Fields,
31 December, 1702, as Tristram in the original production of Mrs.
Centlivre's _The Stolen Heiress._ He died in the autumn of 1719.
Mrs. Leigh was herself an actress of no small eminence, her special
line being 'affected mothers, aunts