Edward "Ned" Alleyn (* September 1566 near London, † 25 November 1626) was a member of the acting company of William Somerset, Earl of Worcester, when he was seventeen. In 1587 at the latest, he joined the Admiral’s Men.1 In addition to Tamburlaine, he also played Faustus and Barabas. Together with Richard Burbage of the Chamberlain’s Men, he was the most popular actor of the Elizabethan era. After a quarrel with Burbage, the Admiral’s Men moved to the Rose in 1591. This was the beginning of a fruitful partnership between Alleyn and the theatre’s owner, Philip Henslowe. In 1592 Alleyn married Henslowe’s stepdaughter Joan Woodward. He retired from the stage in October 1597, presumably after a performance of Doctor Faustus, but returned from time to time from 1600 onwards.2 From then on, he and his father-in-law devoted themselves to the business side of the theatre, organising entertainment programmes for the court and seeking not only financial success but also social advancement. In 1600, they both commissioned another theatre building, the Fortune. After Henslowe’s death in 1616, Alleyn may have taken over much of his business. After Henslowe’s death in 1616, Alleyn may have taken over much of his business. They flourished as before, enabling him to found the College of God’s Gift in 1619 to house twelve boys as well as twelve boarders. It is now called Dulwich College and is a boys' school. When Joan died in 1623, Alleyn married Constance, the daughter of the poet John Donne. The marriage lasted until Alleyn’s death three years later.
Anonymous: Edward Alleyn. Oil on canvas. 1626(?). Dulwich College. CC0
The Theatrical Review published a letter from George Peele to Christopher Marlowe in its second number in 1763. According to Peel, in Hamlet’s Instructions to the Actor (III,2), Shakespeare would have set down Edward Alleyn’s conception of the art of acting. A remarkable achievement, considering that Hamlet was written around 1600, but Peele had already died in 1598 and Marlowe in 1593. In fact, this letter was a not very successful forgery by George Steevens. Although the forgery was obvious,3 Edward Alleyn has since been repeatedly rumoured to have been a pathetic performer with a tendency to outrage, and Shakespeare made fun of Alleyn’s style not only in the character of First Actor4 in Hamlet, but also with Pistol5 in Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor. However, this is contradicted by contemporary statements,6 which praise his acting without describing why he was so well received.7 Alleyn may have had a distinctive, carrying voice, a special walk and an unusual stature. He is estimated to be at least 1.78 metres. Although not from a contemporary point of view, it was very tall by Elizabethan standards.8 On a small stage, as at the Rose, it must have seemed gigantic.9
