James Burbage
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James Burbage (d. 1597), English actor, is said to have been born at Stratford-on-Avon.
He was a member of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester's players, probably for several years before he is first mentioned (1574) as being at the head of the company. In 1576, having secured the lease of land at Shoreditch, Burbage erected there the successful house which was known for twenty years as The Theatre from the fact that it was the first ever erected in London.
He seems also to have been concerned in the erection of a second theatre in the same locality, the Curtain (theatre), and later, in spite of all difficulties and a great deal of local opposition, he started what became the most celebrated home of the rising drama, the Blackfriars Theatre, built in 1596 near the old Dominican friary.
His son Richard Burbage was even more celebrated as an actor.
Reference
- This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.