Descendant of Richard Burbage, Shakespeare's most celebrated actor.
Burbage was the star of William Shakespeare's theatre company, "The
Chamberlain's Men" which mutated into the "King's Men" on the accession
of James I in 1603. He played the title role in the first performances
of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III
and King Lear. He was a close friend of the poet and was even
remembered in his will. He died in 1619. Burbage came from an acting
family and was a popular performer by the age of 20. After the death of
his father, Richard and his brother Cuthbert stepped in to rescue the
family's interests in two London theatres. The Blackfriars Theatre they
kept, the other, called simply The Theatre was dismantled when they
could not resolve terms for a new lease. 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 the new playhouse, The Globe
Theatre.