Edward Alleyn (1566-1626)

Alleyn was the greatest Elizabethan actor before Burbage, and may have performed in some of Shakespeare's plays. He played the title roles in three of Christopher Marlowe's major plays: Faustus, Tamburlaine, and Barabas in The Jew of Malta. He created the parts, which were probably written especially for him. Thomas Heywood calls him "inimitable," "the best of actors," "Proteus for shapes and Roscius for a tongue." Thomas Fuller in his Worthies later wrote of Alleyn's reputation of "so acting to the life that he made any part to become him." He founded Dulwich College where the theatre records of Philip Henslowe are preserved.

Sylvester Harding (Painter); Thomas Nugent (Engraver), from the original now at Dulwich Museum. Published by E Harding of London in 1792. This engraving is from the Seymour Eaton edition of Shakespeare Rare Print Collection published in 1900 (see Gallery 4). Some data under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License via Wikipedia.