Edmund Shakespeare (1580 in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

– buried 31 December 1607 in London) was a 16th- and 17th-century English actor, and the brother of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Life

He was the youngest child of

John Shakespeare John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal ...

and Mary Arden and the brother of William Shakespeare. He followed William to London to become an actor. While an actor, he had an affair with an unknown woman, probably around 1600 although there is no firm evidence. He fathered a son, Edward Shakespeare, in one record noted wrongly as Edmund Sharksbye. He died in 1607, at the age of 27, four months after the death of his son. Twenty shillings was paid for his burial (possibly by William) at St Saviour's in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

(known today as

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark ...

) "with a forenoone knell of the great bell".

In popular culture

Edmund Shakespeare was the subject of a one-man show, written and performed by the British actor Ben Deery, in 2012, at The Last Refuge,

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vil ...

, London. The play's title ''Most Savage and Unnatural'', alludes to a line spoken by the character of Edmund in the play ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'' by William Shakespeare. The performance included elements of audience participation and was warmly received. He appears as Ned Shakespeare in

Nicole Galland Nicole Galland is an American novelist, initially known for her historical fiction. She has written ''The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.'' in collaboration with Neal Stephenson. She wrote the contemporary comedic novel ''Stepdog''. Under the name E.D. d ...

's science fiction/time travel novel ''Master of the Revels'', published in 2021.

References

Samuel Schoenbaum Samuel Schoenbaum (6 March 1927 – 27 March 1996) was a leading 20th-century Shakespearean biographer and scholar. Biography Born in New York, Schoenbaum taught at Northwestern University from 1953 to 1975, serving for the last four years ...

, ''William Shakespeare: a documentary life'' (1975), p. 26 * Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare of Stratford: "Shakespeare's Siblings"
Shakespeare Online
12 Sept. 2000. * Bentley, Gerald Eades. Shakespeare: A Biographical Handbook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961
Archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare, Edmund 1580 births 1607 deaths 16th-century English male actors 17th-century English male actors English male stage actors People from Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare family