John Wiltshire was an English

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

of the Restoration Era. He joined the

King's Company The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged wit ...

in 1675, before transferring to the rival

Duke's Company The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During hats period, theatres b ...

in 1679 possibly as a replacement for

Matthew Medbourne Matthew Medbourne (died 1680) was an English stage actor and occasional playwright of the Restoration era. A long-standing member of the Duke's Theatre, Medbourne was a victim of the Popish Plot scare and died in Newgate Prison. Medbourne wa ...

who was arrested in the Popish Plot and subsequently died in Newgate. From 1682 until his death he was part of the merged

United Company The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678&ndas ...

. According to the autobiography of

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

he subsequently joined the

English Army The ...

as captain and was killed in action fighting with William III's forces in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.181 His surname is also sometimes spelled as Wilshire.

Selected roles

* Justice Crabb in ''

Psyche Debauched ''Psyche Debauched'' is a 1675 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Duffett. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The original cast included Mary Corbett as King Andrew, Mary Knep as Nicholas, Edward Ly ...

'' by

Thomas Duffet Thomas Duffet ( fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Se ...

(1675) * Plush in ''

The Country Innocence ''The Country Innocence; Or, The Chamber-maid Turn'd Quaker'' is a 1677 comedy play by the English writer John Leanerd. It was originally performed by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. It borrowed very heavily from th ...

'' by

John Leanerd John Leanerd ( fl. 1679) was a British playwright, notorious as a plagiarist. Works Leanerd published: * '' The Country Innocence; or, the Chambermaid turn'd Quaker'', London, a comedy acted at the London Theatre Royal in Lent, 1677, by the youn ...

(1677) * Thessalus in ''

The Rival Queens ''The Rival Queens, or the Death Of Alexander the Great'' is a Restoration tragedy written by Nathaniel Lee . Regarded as one of his best tragedies, the play revolves around Alexander the Great and his two wives, Roxana and Statira, whose compe ...

'' by

Nathaniel Lee Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an England, English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth; Dr Lee was ...

(1677) * Oswold in '' King Edgar and Alfreda'' by

Edward Ravenscroft Edward Ravenscroft (c. 1654–1707) was an English dramatist who belonged to an ancient Flintshire family. He was entered at the Middle Temple, but devoted his attention mainly to literature. Ravenscroft was the first critic to posit that Sh ...

(1677) * Another Roman Officer in ''

Mithridates, King of Pontus ''Mithridates, King of Pontus'' is a 1678 tragedy by the English writer Nathaniel Lee. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London by the King's Company. John Dryden wrote the play's epilogue. The original Drury Lane cast ...

'' by

(1678) * Sir Generall Amorous in ''

The Rambling Justice ''The Rambling Justice; Or, The Jealous Husbands'' is a 1678 comedy play by the English writer John Leanerd. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the King's Company. The original Drury Lane cast included Martin Powell as Sir A ...

'' by

(1678) * Passal in '' The Man of Newmarket'' by Edward Howard (1678) * Young Clifford in ''

The Misery of Civil War ''The Misery of Civil War'' is a 1680 tragedy by the English writer John Crowne. It was originally staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The play was staged at the height of the Popish Plot, something Crowne addres ...

'' by

John Crowne John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist. His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia where h ...

(1680) * Paulino in '' The Orphan'' by

Thomas Otway Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682). Life Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his fathe ...

(1680) * Lucius in ''

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

'' by

(1680) * Alphonso in ''

The Spanish Fryar ''The Spanish Friar, or the Double Discovery'' is a tragicomedy by John Dryden, produced and published in 1681.Birch, ed. 2009. Characters * Torrismond, ''Son of'' Sancho, ''the deposed King, believing himself Son of'' Raymond. * Bertran, ...

'' by

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

(1680) * Collatinus in ''

Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus ( 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after ...

'' by

(1680) * Loveday in ''

The London Cuckolds ''The London Cuckolds'' is a 1681 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The original cast included Cave Underhill as Wiseacre, James Nokes as Doodle, Joseph W ...

'' by

(1681) * Antonio in ''

The False Count ''The False Count, Or, A New Way to play An Old Game,'' is a comedic play written by Aphra Behn, first performed in 1681 and published in 1682. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The cast included Willi ...

'' by

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

(1681) * Renault in ''

Venice Preserv'd ''Venice Preserv'd'' is an English Restoration play written by Thomas Otway, and the most significant tragedy of the English stage in the 1680s. It was first staged in 1682, with Thomas Betterton as Jaffeir and Elizabeth Barry as Belvidera. The ...

'' by

(1682) * Friendly in '' Mr. Turbulent'' by Anonymous (1682) * Cardinal in '' The Duke Of Guise'' by

(1682) * Gerrard in ''

Dame Dobson ''Dame Dobson'' is a 1683 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. First staged by the United Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre, the original cast included Katherine Corey as Dame Dobson, Edward Kynaston as Collonel, Thomas Jevon ...

'' by

(1683) * Lycinius in ''

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

'' by

(1683) * Oliver in ''

A Jovial Crew ''A Jovial Crew, or the Merry Beggars'' is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. First staged in 1641 or 1642 and first published in 1652, it is generally ranked as one of Brome's best plays, and one of the best comedie ...

'' by

Richard Brome Richard Brome ; (c. 1590? – 24 September 1652) was an English dramatist of the Caroline era. Life Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's '' Bartholomew Fair'', in ...

(1683) * Alberto in ''

The Disappointment ''The Disappointment, or The Force of Credulity'' is a ballad opera composed by Samuel Adler (composer), Samuel Adler in two acts with a prologue and epilogue, to a text by an unknown author writing under the pseudonym "Andrew Barton". William Pet ...

'' by

Thomas Southerne Thomas Southerne (12 February 166026 May 1746) was an Irish dramatist. Biography Thomas Southerne, born on 12 February 1660, in Oxmantown, near Dublin, was an Irish dramatist. He was the son of Francis Southerne (a Dublin brewer) and Margaret ...

(1684) * Lavinio in '' A Duke and No Duke'' by

Nahum Tate Nahum Tate ( ; 1652 – 30 July 1715) was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for ''The History of King Lear'', his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', and for his libretto for ...

(1684)

References

Bibliography

* Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: W. West to Zwingman''. SIU Press, 1993. * Hughes, Derek. ''The Theatre of Aphra Behn''. Springer, 2000. * Wilson, John Harold. ''Mr. Goodman the Player''. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1964. 17th-century English people English male stage actors 17th-century English male actors Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English military personnel killed in action British military personnel killed in action in the Nine Years' War {{England-stage-actor-stub