Unknown artist: Portrait of Richard Burbage, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

Richard Burbage (July 7, 1568 – March 13, 1619) was an actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events March 23 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. ... is the 72nd day of the year (73rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Burbage came from a poor family and was a popular actor by his early 20s. His early acting career is poorly documented. It has been suggested that it included a stint in the Earl of Leicester's company, but there is no good evidence for this. He probably was acting with the Admiral's Men in 1590, with Lord Strange's Men in 1592, and with the Earl of Pembroke's Men in 1593; but most famously he was the star of William Shakespeare's theatre company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men which mutated into the King's Men on the ascension of James I in 1603. He played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III and King Lear. But he was in great demand and also appeared in the plays of many of the great contemporary writers, such as Ben Jonson (the title role in Volpone and Subtle in The Alchemist), John Marston (The Malcontent), John Webster (The Duchess of Malfi) and Beaumont & Fletcher (The Maid's Tragedy). This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This Elizabethan theatrical company was first known as the Lord Howards Men, named after their patron Charles Howard. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Lord Chamberlains Men was the playing company that William Shakespeare worked for as actor and playwright for most of his career. ... It has been suggested that Lord Chamberlains Men be merged into this article or section. ... James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ...

Burbage's power and scope as an actor is revealed in the sheer size of the roles he played. Of the hundreds of plays and thousands of roles for actors that date from the 1580–1610 era, there are only twenty or so roles that are longer than 800 lines. Edward Alleyn was the first English actor to manage such roles, in Marlowe's Tamburlaine and The Jew of Malta; but the majority of these star roles, thirteen of the twenty, were acted by Burbage.^[1] Edward Alleyn (September 1, 1566 – November 25, 1626), English actor, was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyns School. ... This article is about the English dramatist. ... For the chess engine Tamerlane, see Tamerlane. ... The Jew of Malta is an antisemetic play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. ...

Life

After the death of his father James Burbage in February 1597, Richard and his brother Cuthbert stepped in to rescue the family's interests in two London theatres, and ended up tied up in lawsuits. The Blackfriars Theatre they kept, the other, called simply The Theatre, was dismantled when they could not resolve terms for a new lease with Giles Allen, the landowner. The beams, posts, and other remnants of The Theatre were moved to a new location on the south side of the Thames River and reassembled into a new playhouse called the Globe. The brothers maintained a close working and personal relationship throughout their lives; they were neighbors on Halliwell Street in Shoreditch, near the Globe. Burbage fathered at least eight children; after his death his widow Winifred married another King's Man, Richard Robinson.^[2] [See also: Nicholas Tooley.] James Burbage (d. ... For other uses, see: 1597 (number). ... Blackfriars Theatre was the name of two separate theatres in the City of London, built on grounds previously belonging to a Dominican monastery. ... This article is about one specific theatre in London; for information on theatres in general, see Theater. ... This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare (commonly known as Shakespeares Globe Theatre). ... Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch is a place in the London Borough of Hackney. ... Nicholas Tooley (c. ...

Some believe that the famous Chandos portrait actually depicts Burbage rather than Shakespeare, but he might also be its creator: he had a strong interest in painting. Dulwich College holds a painting of a female head in a roughly similar style that was generally regarded as his work until it was found out in 1987 that it was probably misattributed to him and that it is a work by a North Italian painter. The Chandos portrait, popularly believed to depict William Shakespeare (in a 20th century reproduction) The Chandos portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). ... Dulwich New College buildings. ...

Unlike Alleyn or his fellow King's Man Shakespeare, Burbage never retired from the stage; he continued acting until his death in 1619. He was not as acute a businessman as either Alleyn or Shakespeare; at his death he was said to have left his widow "better than £300" in land—a respectable estate but far less than Alleyn's substantial wealth, and less than the net worth of Shakespeare at his death in 1616.^[3]

Burbage was buried in St Leonard's, Shoreditch, a church close to the Theatre. His gravestone is now lost, but a memorial to him and his brothers was erected in a later century. An anonymous poet composed for him A Funerall Elegye on the Death of the famous Actor Richard Burbedg who died on Saturday in Lent the 13 of March 1618, an excerpt of which reads: St Leonards, Shoreditch is a church in Shoreditch just outside the City of London. ...

He's gone and with him what a world are dead.

Which he review'd, to be revived so,

No more young Hamlet, old Hieronimo^[4]

Kind Lear, the Grieved Moor, and more beside,

That lived in him; have now for ever died.

Of the many epitaphs that followed his passing, perhaps the most poignant is the briefest: "Exit Burbage."

References

1. ^ Scott McMillin, The Elizabethan Stage and "The Book of Sir Thomas More," Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1987; pp. 61-3.
2. ^ F. E. Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; p.77.
3. ^ Andrew Gurr, The Shakespearan Stage 1574–1642, third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992; p. 91.
4. ^ "Hieronimo" or "Hieronymo" is the main character from Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy.