Richard Cowley (died 1619) was an actor in
English Renaissance theatre, a colleague of
William Shakespeare and
Richard Burbage in the
Lord Chamberlain's Men and the
King's Men.
Cowley was in the c. 1591 production of ''
The Seven Deadly Sins'', performed by personnel from the
Admiral's Men
The Admiral's Men (also called the Admiral's company, more strictly, the Earl of Nottingham's Men; after 1603, Prince Henry's Men; after 1612, the Elector Palatine's Men or the Palsgrave's Men) was a playing company or troupe of actors in the El ...
and
Lord Strange's Men
Lord Strange's Men was an Elizabethan playing company, comprising retainers of the household of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange (pronounced "strang"). They are best known in their final phase of activity in the late 1580s and early 1590s. After ...
— a production that included
Richard Burbage and other future King's Men. Cowley acted seven minor roles in that production. He also toured with some of the same personnel under
Edward Alleyn
Edward "Ned" Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich.
Early life
Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bishopsga ...
in 1593. He is thought to have been an original shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men when they re-formed in
1594
Events
January–June
* March 21 – Henry IV enters his capital of Paris for the first time.
* April 17 – Hyacinth of Poland is canonized.
* May
** Uprising in Banat of Serbs against Ottoman rule ends with the public ...
; but little is known about his career, except for the fact that he played Verges in ''
Much Ado About Nothing,'' along with
William Kempe as Dogberry. For some reason he is not in the cast lists on the three
Ben Jonson plays acted by the company in 1598–1603; but he is still one of the sharers when the company is chartered as the King's Men in
1603
Events
January–June
* February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship '' Santa Catarina'' is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established ...
, and he receives a bequest in the 1605 will of
Augustine Phillips
Augustine Phillips (died May 1605) was an Elizabethan actor who performed in troupes with Edward Alleyn and William Shakespeare. He was one of the first generation of English actors to achieve wealth and a degree of social status by means of his ...
. He is known to have married and had four children; two died young. His wife Elizabeth was buried on 28 September 1616 and his own burial followed on 12 March 1619. His will was witnessed by
Cuthbert Burbage,
John Heminges,
Thomas Ravenscroft, and
John Shank
John Shank (also spelled Shanke or Shanks) (died January 1636) was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a leading comedian in the King's Men during the 1620s and 1630s.
Early career
By his own testimony, Shank began his stage career with Pe ...
.
References
*
Chamber, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923.
*
Gurr, Andrew. ''The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642.'' Third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
*
Halliday, F. E. ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.
English male stage actors
17th-century English male actors
1619 deaths
English male Shakespearean actors
King's Men (playing company)
Year of birth unknown
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