born 1672, Dublin, Ire.
died Sept. 1, 1729, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
English journalist, dramatist, essayist, and politician.
He began his long friendship with Joseph Addison at school and attempted an army career before turning to writing. He launched and was the principal author (under the name Isaac Bickerstaff) of the essay periodical The Tatler (April 1709January 1711), in which he created the mixture of entertainment and instruction in manners and morals that he and Addison would perfect in The Spectator . His attractive, often casual writing style was a perfect foil for Addison's more measured, erudite prose. He made many later ventures into journalism, some politically partisan, and held several government posts. In 1714 he became governor of Drury Lane Theatre , where he produced The Conscious Lovers (1723), one of the century's most popular plays and perhaps the best example of English sentimental comedy.