William Ecclestone or EgglestoneDNB ( fl. 1610 – 1623) was an actor in

English Renaissance theatre English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson ...

, a member of

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 ...

company the King's Men.

Life

Nothing is known with certainty about Ecclestone's early life. There was an Eccleston living in Southwark in 1583, and a person of the same name lived in Swan Alley, near the Swan Theatre, in 1601; this may have been one (or two) of the actor's family. (No personal name is given in the records in either case.) A "William Eglestone" was married to an Ann Jacob on 20 February 1603 at St. Saviour's in Southwark; this might (or might not) have been the actor. The man who definitely was the actor was with the King's Men in 1610 and 1611; he was part of the cast of their productions of Jonson's ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

'' (1610) and ''

Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( 108 BC – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier. He is best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to violently seize control of the ...

'' (1611). In the latter year he left the King's Men for the

Lady Elizabeth's Men The Lady Elizabeth's Men, or Princess Elizabeth's Men, was a company of actors in Jacobean London, formed under the patronage of King James I's daughter Princess Elizabeth. From 1618 on, the company was called The Queen of Bohemia's Men, afte ...

; he became a sharer in that company and signed a bond with impresario Philip Henslowe on 29 August 1611, along with other actors who included Joseph Taylor and John Rice, two King's Men of the future. Ecclestone acted with that company in their production of '' The Honest Man's Fortune,'' most likely in 1613. Yet Ecclestone returned to the King's Men later in 1613, and was in their production of Fletcher's '' Bonduca'' that was performed around that time. He became a sharer in the King's Men sometime between 1614 and 1619. In the 25 cast lists that were included in the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679, Ecclestone is mentioned in 12; in addition to the plays cited above, Ecclestone acted in: * '' The Custom of the Country'' * ''

The Humorous Lieutenant ''The Humorous Lieutenant'', also known as ''The Noble Enemies'', ''Demetrius and Enanthe'', or ''Alexander's Successors'', is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher. Highly praised by critics, it has been called "Fl ...

'' * ''

The Island Princess ''The Island Princess'' is a late Jacobean tragicomedy by John Fletcher, initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. The play The authorship and the stage premier of the play are generally thought to have occurred ...

'' * '' The Laws of Candy'' * '' The Little French Lawyer'' * '' The Loyal Subject'' * ''

The Mad Lover ''The Mad Lover'' is a Jacobean stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. Fletcher's sole authorship was specified during the 17th century by his friend Sir Aston ...

'' * ''

The Sea Voyage ''The Sea Voyage'' is a late Jacobean comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. The play is notable for its imitation of Shakespeare's '' The Tempest.'' Performance and publication ''The Sea Voyage'' was licensed for performance ...

'' * ''

The Spanish Curate ''The Spanish Curate'' is a late Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. It premiered on the stage in 1622, and was first published in 1647. Date and source The play was licensed for production by Sir ...

'' * ''

Women Pleased ''Women Pleased'' is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher that was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. Date and performance The play's date is uncertain; it is usually assigned to t ...

'' His is the seventh most frequently-mentioned name among the actors on the lists. Unfortunately, the specific roles Ecclestone filled in these plays are not known. Ecclestone disappeared from the historical record in 1623, after he was mentioned in the last will and testament of

Nicholas Tooley Nicholas Tooley (c. 1583 – June 1623) was a Renaissance actor in the King's Men, the acting company of William Shakespeare. Recent research has shown that Tooley was born in late 1582 or early 1583; his birth name was not Tooley but Wilkin ...

. Some commentators have speculated that Ecclestone might have been the "W. E." who wrote

commendatory verse The epideictic oratory, also called ceremonial oratory, or praise-and-blame rhetoric, is one of the three branches, or "species" (eidē), of rhetoric as outlined in Aristotle's ''Rhetoric'', to be used to praise or blame during ceremonies. Origin ...

s for the first quarto of Fletcher's ''The Wild Goose Chase'' in 1652; but the three-decade gap between 1623 and 1652 is problematic.

Notes

References

* Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. * Halliday, F. E. ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ecclestone, William English male stage actors 16th-century births 17th-century deaths 17th-century English male actors King's Men (playing company)