Edward Alleyn
| Edward Alleyn | |
|---|---|
Edward Alleyn
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| Born |
1 September 1566 Bishopsgate, London |
| Died | 25 November 1626 (aged 60) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1583–1604 |
| Spouse(s) |
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Edward "Ned" Alleyn (/ˈælɪn/; 1566–1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School.
Alleyn was born on September 1, 1566 in Bishopsgate, London; or so it was recorded in the Biographia Britannica as a product of Alleyn's own writing. Alleyn does record his birth date in a diary several times but never distinctly identifies his birthplace as Bishopsgate. In the St. Botolph parish registers it is recorded that he was baptized on the day after his birth. He was born a younger son of Edward Alleyn with three brothers named John, William, and Edward. His father was an innkeeper and porter to the queen, and his mother, Margaret Townley was the daughter of John Townley. His mother's link to the Lancashire Townley family is somewhat of a mystery. Alleyn said she was the daughter of John Townley of Townley but the claim does not easily fit with the available information on the Townley family tree. Regardless of this, the road that passes Alleyns School was named after her in 1884. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. He was known to contemporaries as "Ned"; his surname is variously spelled Allen or Alleyne.
Edward Alleyn was four years old when his father died. His mother remarried an actor named Brown. Alleyn, growing up in the home of an actor was believed to have been raised in the theatre culture. It is not known at what date he began to act, but in 1583 his name was on the list of the Earl of Worcester's players. He was rated by common consent as the foremost actor of his time; his only close rival was Richard Burbage.
He played the title roles in three of Christopher Marlowe's major plays: Faustus, Tamburlaine, and Barabas in The Jew of Malta. He created the parts, which were probably written especially for him. The evidence for his stage career is otherwise fragmentary. Other parts thought to be associated with Alleyn are Orlando in Robert Greene's Orlando Furioso, and perhaps Hieronymo in The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd. Other works, some now lost, are thought to have had Alleyn in leading roles, including plays by George Peele such as The Battle of Alcazar. In a private letter, he mocked himself as a 'fustian king'.
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