Ellis Worth

Last updated March 30, 2019

Ellis Worth (c. 1587 – 1659), or Woorth, was a noted English actor in the Jacobean and Caroline eras. He was a leading member of two important companies, Queen Anne's Men and Prince Charles's Men.^[1]

The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland (1567–1625), who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era, and is often used for the distinctive styles of Jacobean architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and literature which characterized that period.

The Caroline or Carolean era refers to the era in English and Scottish history during the Stuart period (1603–1714) that coincided with the reign of Charles I (1625–1642), Carolus being Latin for Charles. The Caroline era followed the Jacobean era, the reign of Charles's father James I & VI (1603–1625); it was followed by the Wars of the three Kingdoms (1642–1651) and the English Interregnum (1651–1660).

Queen Anne's Men was a playing company, or troupe of actors, in Jacobean era London. In their own era they were known colloquially as the Queen's Men — as were Queen Elizabeth's Men and Queen Henrietta's Men, in theirs.

Biography

Nothing is known of Worth's origins or early life, or the start of his career; he was with the Queen Anne's company by 1615, and continued with the troupe until it dissolved in 1623. The paucity of the extant historical record means that little is known of the roles he played; he was most likely the "Ellis" who played a Lord in Robert Daborne's The Poor Man's Comfort around 1617. After 1623, Worth was a member of what is usually called the Company of the Revels at the Red Bull Theatre, and sometimes simply the Red Bull company; little is known of their activities.

Robert Daborne was an English dramatist of the Jacobean era.

The Poor Man's Comfort is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by Robert Daborne — one of his two extant plays.

The Red Bull was an inn-yard conversion erected in Clerkenwell, London operating in the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the City and its suburbs, developing a reputation over the years for rowdiness. After Parliament closed the theatres in 1642, it continued to host illegal performances intermittently, and when the theatres reopened after the Restoration, it became a legitimate venue again. There is a myth that it burned down in the Great Fire of London but the direct reason for its end is unclear.

When Richard Gunnell built his Salisbury Court Theatre in 1629, he needed a company to act there. He brought in the new or second version of Prince Charles's Men. Worth was an original member and a "sharer" (partner) in this organization from 1631 to at least 1638, and probably until the theatres were closed in 1642 at the start of the English Civil War. He played Ardelio in the troupe's December 1631 production of Marmion's Holland's Leaguer .

Richard Gunnell was an actor, playwright, and theatre manager in Jacobean and Caroline era London. He is best remembered for his role in the founding of the Salisbury Court Theatre.

The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. It was in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishops of Salisbury. Salisbury Court was acquired by Richard Sackville in 1564 during the last seven years of his life when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Queen Elizabeth; when Thomas Sackville was created Earl of Dorset in 1604, the building was renamed Dorset House.

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of England's governance. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

Much of what is known of Worth's career comes from legal documents that pertain to the various controversies in which his companies were involved. The long legal battle between Susan Baskervile and Queen Anne's Men is one obvious example; that lawsuit is often known as the Worth/Baskervile suit, or Worth v. Baskervile, since Worth, due to his leading position in the troupe, was listed first among the roster of actors Baskervile sued.^[2] [See: Susan Baskervile.] Worth also testified in the Keep the Widow Waking suit in 1624 (though he testified that he had nothing to do with the play).

Susan Shore Browne Greene Baskervile, or Baskerville, was one of the most influential and significant women involved in English Renaissance theatre, as theatre investor, litigant, and wife, widow, and mother of actors.

Keep the Widow Waking is a lost Jacobean play, significant chiefly for the light it throws on the complexities of collaborative authorship in English Renaissance drama.

The second Prince Charles's company also had a tempestuous and litigious career, and Worth was deeply enmeshed in its controversies. Worth and Andrew Cane, the troupe's leaders, were sued by fellow actor William Bankes in 1635.^[3] Bankes invested £100 to become an actor/sharer in the company, but was unhappy with the results.

Andrew Cane — also Kayne, Kene, Keine, and other variants — was a comic actor in late Jacobean and Caroline era London. In his own generation he was a leading comedian and dancer, and one of the famous and popular performers of his time.

Even after the theatres were closed, the litigation continued; Worth gave a deposition in a Chancery suit in February 1654, in which, coincidentally, he identifies himself as "of the age of 67 or thereabouts."^[4]

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the estates of lunatics and the guardianship of infants. Its initial role was somewhat different: as an extension of the Lord Chancellor's role as Keeper of the King's Conscience, the Court was an administrative body primarily concerned with conscientious law. Thus the Court of Chancery had a far greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the jurisdiction to overrule for much of its existence, and was far more flexible. Until the 19th century, the Court of Chancery could apply a far wider range of remedies than common law courts, such as specific performance and injunctions, and had some power to grant damages in special circumstances. With the shift of the Exchequer of Pleas towards a common law court and loss of its equitable jurisdiction by the Administration of Justice Act 1841, the Chancery became the only national equitable body in the English legal system.

Worth's daughter Jane was christened in July 1613. The girl's mother died sometime before 1626, when Worth married the widow of Thomas Holcombe. Their son Elizeus was christened in March 1629.^[5]

For a couple of centuries, nothing was known about Worth's later years; even the year of his death was mysterious. The discovery of his last will and testament provided some valuable data on his family and surviving descendants.^[6] Regrettably, the will contains no mention of actors; Worth's colleagues had largely passed from the scene by 1659.

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References

↑ Edwin Nunzeger, A Dictionary of Actors and of Others Associated with the Representation of Plays in England Before 1642, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1929; pp. 401-2.
↑ C. J. Sisson, "The Red Bull Company and the Importunate Widow," Shakespeare Survey, Vol. 7 (1954); Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002; pp. 57-68.
↑ G. E. Bentley, "The Troubles of a Caroline Acting Troupe: Prince Charles's Company," Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 41 No. 3 (May, 1978), pp. 217-49.
↑ Bentley, "Troubles," p. 220 n. 4; Sisson, pp. 59, 67.
↑ G E. Bentley, "Records of Players in the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate," Papers of the Modern Language Association, Vol. 44 No. 3 (September 1929), pp. 789-826; see pp. 825-6.
↑ S. P. Cerasano, "New Renaissance Players' Wills," Modern Philology, Vol. 82 No. 3 (February 1985), pp. 299-304.

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[1] Edwin Nunzeger, A Dictionary of Actors and of Others Associated with the Representation of Plays in England Before 1642, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1929; pp. 401-2.

[2] C. J. Sisson, "The Red Bull Company and the Importunate Widow," Shakespeare Survey, Vol. 7 (1954); Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002; pp. 57-68.

[3] G. E. Bentley, "The Troubles of a Caroline Acting Troupe: Prince Charles's Company," Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 41 No. 3 (May, 1978), pp. 217-49.

[4] Bentley, "Troubles," p. 220 n. 4; Sisson, pp. 59, 67.

[5] G E. Bentley, "Records of Players in the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate," Papers of the Modern Language Association, Vol. 44 No. 3 (September 1929), pp. 789-826; see pp. 825-6.

[6] S. P. Cerasano, "New Renaissance Players' Wills," Modern Philology, Vol. 82 No. 3 (February 1985), pp. 299-304.