Edward Alleyn 1566-1626

Edward ALLEYN 1566-1626

Biographical Note

Born in St Botolph without Bishopsgate, the son of Edward Alleyn (d. 1570), originally of Willen, Buckinghamshire, and Margaret Townley. Alleyn was a prominent actor and theatre owner of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. He performed with the Earl of Worcester's Men in his youth but is most well-known for his role as leader of the Admiral’s Men. His best-known roles were those of the early 1590s, including the roles of ‘Tamburlaine’ and ‘Doctor Faustus’ in Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great, and Doctor Faustus.

Around 1597 Alleyn retired from acting and turned his attention to managing theatrical and other investments. He ran the Rose Playhouse as a shared partnership with Philip Henslowe, and the pair attempted to gain the court-appointed mastership of the bears; they eventually held a joint patent for the office until Henslowe’s death in 1616. In 1600 Henslowe and Alleyn jointly established the Fortune Playhouse, which was in successful operation for twenty-one years before burning down, after which Alleyn built a second Fortune on the same site.

In 1623 Alleyn’s wife, Joan, died; she was buried in the chapel of Dulwich College, which was founded by Alleyn in 1619. He remarried Constance, daughter of John Donne, and the pair remained married until Alleyn's death in 1626.

Books

Alleyn bequeathed his books to Dulwich College; 26 are listed in a contemporary manuscript.

Sources

• Cerasano, S. P. "Alleyn, Edward (1566–1626), actor, theatre entrepreneur, and founder of Dulwich College." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.