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Anne Bracegirdle was an English actress.
Elizabeth Boutell, was a British actress.
The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the Duke became King, the theatre became the Queen's Theatre in 1685, referring to James' second wife, Mary of Modena. The name remained when William III and Mary II came to the throne in 1689.
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 with the Duke's Company to form the United Company.
Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, the theatre was called Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse, also known as The Duke's Playhouse, The New Theatre or The Opera. The building was rebuilt in 1714, and used again as a theatre for a third period, 1714–1732. The tennis court theatre was the first public playhouse in London to feature the moveable scenery that would become a standard feature of Restoration theatres.
Mary Saunderson (1637–1712), later known as Mary Saunderson Betterton after her marriage to Thomas Betterton, was an actress and singer in England during the 1660s and 1690s. She is considered one of the first English actresses.
Anne Shadwell was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. She was one of the first English actresses to appear on stage following the Restoration She was one of six actors recruited in 1660 by William Davenant for the new Duke's Company, acting under her maiden name Anne Gibbs. Sometime between 1663 and 1667 she married the playwright Thomas Shadwell with whom she had four children. While some sources have her acting late into the century, it may be she effectively retired with the formation of the United Company in 1682. Her appearances had decreased since 1672. Following her husband's death in 1692 she was left the bulk of his estate. She had an investment in the Drury Lane Theatre in 1709, when she joined a petition to Queen Anne by the manager Christopher Rich, but nothing is known about her after this point.
Samuel Sandford was an English character actor, known for his roles as villains.
Joseph Williams was an English stage actor of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century.
Thomas Gillow was an English stage actor of the Restoration era. His name was sometimes written Gilloe or Gillo.
Philip Cademan was an English stage actor of the Restoration era.
Matthew Medbourne 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.
Jane Long was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. She was recruited into the Duke's Company after the theatres were repopened following the Restoration and became a noted comedienne, at a time when the Restoration comedy genre was flourishing.
John Wiltshire was an English stage actor of the Restoration Era. He joined the King's Company in 1675, before transferring to the rival Duke's Company in 1679 possibly as a replacement for Matthew Medbourne 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. According to the autobiography of Colley Cibber he subsequently joined the English Army as captain and was killed in action fighting with William III's forces in Flanders during the Nine Years' War. His surname is also sometimes spelled as Wilshire.
Joseph Harris (c.1650–1715) was an English stage actor and playwright. His earliest known performance was in the United Company's The Bloody Brother in 1685. Earlier mentions an actor named Harris are likely to refer to an earlier lesser-known actor William Harris or even the celebrated Restoration performer Henry Harris. He remained with the United Company until 1695 when he joined Thomas Betterton's breakaway company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. He acted there until around 1705, although some reports have him still acting as late as 1715.
Henry Harris was an English stage actor and theatre manager. Initially a painter he was a founder member of the new Duke's Company in 1660 following the Restoration which established itself at the old Salisbury Court Theatre before moving to the new Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre shortly afterwards. Due to his background Harris may have been a set designer and painter during his early years with the company. However, by 1661 he was acting, and his first recorded role was in William Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes that summer. He quickly established himself as the second actor in the troupe after Thomas Betterton.
John Crosby was an English stage actor of the Restoration Period. He first recorded performance is in 1662 when he appeared in Ignoramus at Whitehall Palace, likely as a child actor. It was further eight years before he was solidly established in the Duke's Company in 1670 beginning with The Forc'd Marriage by Aphra Behn. He became a regular with the company over the following decade, often playing young lover roles. He retired from the stage in 1679 and later became a justice of the peace for Middlesex. He died on 8 April 1724 and was buried in St Sepulchre.
Edward Angel was an English stage actor of the early Restoration Era. Along with James Nokes and Cave Underhill he was one of the leading comedians of the period. It is possible he began his career as a boy actor during the pre-English Civil War era, but he was an experienced actor by the time he was a member of John Rhodes's troupe in 1660. From 1662 he acted with the Duke's Company, initially at Lincoln's Inn Fields and after 1671 at the new Dorset Garden Theatre.
Marmaduke Watson was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. Part of the King's Company based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he was one of the actors who sided with Charles Killigrew during a dispute in the company in 1677. In 1682 when the United Company was formed he left and went to Dublin to join the Smock Alley Theatre. He later returned to London where his final known performances were with Thomas Betterton's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
John Coysh was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. He was a member of the King's Company, based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
