Eliard Swanston (died 1651), alternatively spelled Heliard, Hilliard, Elyard, Ellyardt, Ellyaerdt, and Eyloerdt, was an English actor in the Caroline era.
He became a leading man in the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, in the final phase of its existence.
In some cases, Swanston was the sole payee for the King's Men's Court performances; he received sums of £120 (February 1632), £270 (March 1633), and £220 (April 1634), and other amounts, in trust for the company.
Swanston gradually came to play some of the leading Shakespearean roles in revivals, including the title parts in Othello and Richard III.
He played the role of Lugier, "the rough and confident tutor to the ladies," in a 1632 revival of Fletcher's The Wild Goose Chase.
The affair generated a supply of documents, sometimes called the "sharers' papers," that throw light on the theatre conditions of the era.