21 Facts About Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage was a business associate and friend to William Shakespeare.

Richard Burbage was described as being short and stout but was said to be an impressive figure, with numerous praises written of him in contemporary accounts.

Richard Burbage 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.

Richard Burbage was the second son of his parents, followed by three younger sisters; Alice, Joane, and Ellen.

Richard Burbage's father brought Burbage to the theatre and had the greatest influence on his career.

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Richard Burbage's father was influential in many parts of the acting industry at the time, as he owned one of the largest theatres at the time and directly worked with Shakespeare on his works.

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

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

Richard Burbage was probably acting with the Admiral's Men in 1590, then joining Lord Strange's Men in 1592, and with the Earl of Pembroke's Men in 1593, but most famously he was the star of William Shakespeare's theatre company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men on the ascension of James I in 1603.

Richard Burbage played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and King Lear.

Richard 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 high level acting skills.

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

Richard Burbage was not such an astute businessman as either Alleyn or Shakespeare; at his death he was said to have left his widow "better than £300" in land—a respectable estate but far less than Alleyn's substantial wealth, and less than the net worth of Shakespeare at his death in 1616.

Richard Burbage was the first ever actor to play Hamlet and continued to act until he died.

Richard Burbage's acting style allowed him to "easily slip into character", 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.

Richard Burbage remained a crowd favorite, even when younger actors emerged, for thirty-five years, and was an idol of his age.

Richard Burbage's last recorded performance was in 1610, but he acted with the King's Men until his death in 1619.

Richard Burbage's death caused such an outpouring of grief that it threatened to overshadow the official mourning for the death of Queen Anne ten days prior.

Richard Burbage was buried in St Leonard's, Shoreditch, a church close to two theatres: "The Theatre" and "The Curtain Theatre".

Richard Burbage was played by Lionel Belmore in the film Master Will Shakespeare, by Paul Freeman in the miniseries Will Shakespeare (1978), Martin Clunes in the film Shakespeare in Love (1998), by Jalaal Hartley in the Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code (2007), by Steve Speirs in the BBC sitcom Upstart Crow (2016), by Mattias Inwood in the TNT drama Will (2017) and by Adam Colborne in the third episode of the miniseries Good Omens (2019), co-produced by the BBC and Amazon Video.

Some believe that the anonymous oil painting used so often nowadays to show what Richard Burbage looked like was a self-portrait.