Nell Gwyn

Nell Gwyn (born February 2, 1650, London?, England—died November 14, 1687, London) was an English actress and mistress of Charles II. Her frank recklessness, generosity, invariable good temper, ready wit, infectious high spirits, and amazing indiscretions appealed irresistibly to a generation that welcomed in her the living antithesis of Puritanism. There is uncertainty about Gwyn’s early life. Several cities have been suggested as her birth place, including London and Hereford. Her father, according to tradition,...