Career
He first appeared on the stage in 1721 as Daniel in The Conscious Lovers, by Richard Steele, and with the help of his father's name and the friendship of Steele immediately became successful. He became acting-manager of the Drury Lane Theatre in 1734, and in the same year he married the actress Susanna Maria Arne, sister of Thomas Arne, the composer. Later he brought an action against William Sloper, a country gentleman, accusing him of adulterous relations with Mrs. Cibber, and claiming £5,000;p5,000; however, it became evident in court that Cibber had not only condoned but had contrived the intimacy, and he received only £10.p10. His wife having left him, Cibber continued his wildly extravagant life. In 1753 he went to King's Bench prison for debt. He was invited to Dublin to play at the Theatre Royal by Thomas Sheridan, but his boat was shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland in October 1758 and he was drowned. His plays, which were not successful, include The Lover (1730) and The Auction (1757).