Richard Burbage

[1] He was said to be quite rich because he was earning income from being the primary housekeeper of two playhouses, a sharer in the King's Men, a lead actor and a painter.

[2][page needed] After the death of their father in February 1597, Richard and his brother Cuthbert stepped in to rescue the family's interests in two London theatres and found themselves tied up in lawsuits.

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 in 1599.

The Burbage brothers kept half the shares in the new theatre and gave the remainder to Shakespeare and other members of the Chamberlain's Men.

The Burbage brothers maintained a close working and personal relationship throughout their lives; they were neighbours on Halliwell Street in Shoreditch, near the Theatre.

[3] Burbage fathered at least eight children;[4] after his death, his widow Winifred married another of the King's Men, Richard Robinson.

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 and Fletcher (The Maid's Tragedy).

Burbage grew up in the life of the theatre as his father owned one of London's playhouses, leading some to cite his upbringing around the arts as the reason for his acting skills.

Unlike Alleyn or his fellow King's Man Shakespeare, Burbage never retired from the stage; he continued acting until his death, aged 52, in 1619.

[7] He was known to play characters believably – a difficult feat during his time: Because of theatre being a newer form of formal entertainment in Elizabethan England, actors could not rely on suspension of disbelief to aid their performance.

[citation needed] Burbage remained a crowd favourite, even when younger actors emerged, for 35 years, and was an idol of his age.

An anonymous poet composed for him A Funerall Elegye on the Death of the famous Actor Richard Burbage who died on Saturday in Lent 13 March 1619, an excerpt of which reads: 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[b] Kind Lear, the Grieved Moor, and more beside, That lived in him have now forever died.