Robert Gough (born circa 1580 - died 1624), also Goughe or Goffe, was an English actor who took female parts in

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

plays. He was the father of actor

Alexander Gough Alexander Gough ( fl. 1626 – 1655), also Goughe or Goffe, was an English actor in the Caroline era. He started out as a boy player filling female roles; during the period of the English Civil War and the Interregnum (1642–1660) when ...

Biography

Gough was one of the boy actors in Shakespeare's plays, appearing twenty-third in the list of actors' names prefixed to the 1623 folio. He resided in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, London; was living in Hill's Rents in 1604, in Samson's Rents in 1605–6, and in Austin's Rents in 1612, where he seems to have stayed until 1622, if not to his death. His death date was found in the monthly account in the register book of St. Saviour's church: "19 Feb., 1624, Robert Goffe, a player, buried." In 1591, as a boy actor, he took the female character of Aspatia in ‘Sardanapalus,’ a portion of a piece by

Richard Tarlton Richard Tarlton (died September 1588), was an English actor of the Elizabethan era. He was the most famous clown of his era, known for his extempore comic doggerel verse, which came to be known as "Tarltons". He helped to turn Elizabethan theatre ...

called ‘ The Seconde Parte of the Seven Deadlie Sinns,’ of which ‘The Platt’ is all that survives, and is to be found among the manuscripts (No. xix.) at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, printed in Steevens's additions to Malone's ‘Historical Account,’ and in Collier's ‘English Dramatic Poetry.’ He almost certainly played the role of JulietJay Halio, ''Romeo and Juliet: A Guide to the Play'', Greenwood Press, 1998, p.97. opposite the 28-year-old

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, ent ...

in the first stage performances of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' circa 1595. In 1603 he had a legacy from

Thomas Pope Sir Thomas Pope (c. 150729 January 1559), was a prominent public servant in mid-16th-century England, a Member of Parliament, a wealthy landowner, and the founder of Trinity College, Oxford. Early life Pope was born at Deddington, near Ban ...

, whom Malone assumes to have probably been his master, of half of the testator's wearing apparel and arms. On 13 February 1602 he married Elizabeth Phillips, the sister of

Augustine Phillips Augustine Phillips (died May 1605) was an Elizabethan actor who performed in troupes with Edward Alleyn and William Shakespeare. He was one of the first generation of English actors to achieve wealth and a degree of social status by means of his ...

, the actor, who received from her brother a testamentary bequest of 10l "of lawfull money of England." Under the name Robert Goffe, Goughe is a witness to Phillips's will, which is dated 4 May 1605. In 1611 he played the Usurping Tyrant in the ‘ Second Maiden's Tragedy.’ If he had been 11 in his first role as Aspatia, and had played Juliet at around age 15, then his Usurping Tyrant role would have been played at age 31.

Children of Robert Gough

Elizabeth Goffe or Gough, daughter of Robert, a player, was baptised on 30 May 1605, Nicholas Goffe on 24 November 1608, Dorothaye Goffe on 10 February 1610, buried on 12 January 1612, and Alexander Goffe on 7 August 1614, all at St. Saviour's Church. The last-named, also an actor until the closing of the theatres, published in 1652 the ''Widow'', by Ben Jonson, Fletcher, and Middleton, and according to Wright's ''Historia Histrionica'' was "the woman actor at Black Friars", who, when in Cromwell's time the actors played privately in the houses of noblemen, "used to be the jackal, and give notice of time and place."

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Gough, Robert Year of birth unknown 1624 deaths 17th-century English male actors English male stage actors English male Shakespearean actors Year of birth uncertain