Edward Alleyn

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

Born 1 Sep 1566
Died 25 Nov 1626
Activity 1586-1626

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Theatre actor
Theatre Manager

Resources

Edward Alleyn (usually pronounced Allen) was one of the most famous actor-managers of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre. Born at The Pie Inn in London’s Bishopsgate, where his father was the publican, he lost his father in childhood and his mother is then believed to have married an actor who influenced the young boy. Alleyn joined the Earl of Worcester’s Players before he was eighteen, and in 1589 became the leading actor of the Lord Admiral’s Men. In 1592 he married Joan Woodward, stepdaughter to the actor-manager Philip Henslowe, and through this marriage became part owner of Henslowe’s theatres, notably The Rose in Bankside and the Fortune Theatre in Cripplegate, the main rival of The Globe. He also became involved in …

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382 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Edward Alleyn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 October 2004; last revised 25 May 2005. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=89, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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