New evidence about Shakespearean star actor, Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage was one of England’s first theatrical entrepreneurs and its first theatrical stars. As well as enjoying a professional acting career that spanned more than thirty years, Burbage was a theatre builder and owner. Following the example of his father, James Burbage, who co-founded one of London’s first permanent playhouses (The Theatre), Richard and his brother Cuthbert established the Globe Theatre (1599) and managed the Second Blackfriars Theatre (inherited from their father). However, today Richard Burbage is arguably best known for being the lead actor in Shakespeare’s acting company (the Lord Chamberlain's/King's Men) and as the man for whom Shakespeare created some of his most memorable leading roles, including Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. Theatre historians have been able to establish some of the key facts about Burbage’s life but there are some gaps in the biographical picture drawn so far. One of these relates to the details of Burbage’s marriage. However, fresh investigation of the surviving marriage records from early modern London has led to a discovery which appears to solve the question of when and where Richard Burbage got married. This article documents this discovery and its implications for our knowledge of Burbage and his London connections.