Category:William Bird: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:57, 31 January 2022

William Bird (also Birde, Borne, Bvrde, Burde, and Byrd) is one of the players in Shakespeare's time about which a great deal is known, not only in the business side of two playing companies but also as a player. Furthermore, he appears in non-theatrical records.

Theatrical records:

Player and Sharer

1597: Bird and several fellow players sued Francis Langley, owner and builder of the Swan playhouse, where the company of Pembroke's men had been playing for some months; Bird joined the Admiral's men on 10 August, and his name appears frequently in the company accounts recorded by Philip Henslowe in his memorandum book or "diary." Nungezer characterizes Bird's activity in subsequent years as "authorizing payments, borrowing from Henslowe, paying personal debts, selling properties, acknowledging company debts in the capacity of shareholder, and" witnessing various transactions (Nungezer, p. 48).

1602: Bird is credited with the parts of Colmogra and Artabisus in the surviving plot of "Tamar Cham," part 1, the date of which document is generally believed to be 1602, though the play itself was much older.

1603: Bird is recorded as joining (with other Admiral's men) the newly formed company of the Prince's men, where he remained until Prince Henry's death in 1612. In one entertainment given to celebrate the new king, Bird played the part of Zeal (Nungezer, p. 48).

1613: The company of players in Prince Henry's men reformed as Palgrave's men in January 1613, where Bird remained until 1622 ("probably," according to Nungezer, p. 49).

Playwright

Bird wrote plays, often in collaboration with Samuel Rowley, for example "Jurgurtha", below.
Bird also contributed additions to plays, for example Doctor Faustus (1602).

Non-theatrical records:

Domestic Life

marriage: Bird married Mary sometime before 1600; she died in 1625, and her will survives (Honigmann and Brock, p. 147)
descendents: 1600, birth of his son, William; 1602, birth of his son Frances; date unknown, birth of his son, Theophilus, unknown but he became a player too and died in 1663 (his will survives); son, Thomas, birthdate unknown.
Bird with Edward Alleyn (and others) on numerous occasions (Nungezer, p. 49).

Other

1600: Bird's wife borrowed ￡3 to get her husband out of jail.

gave address as Hogsdon

Works Cited

Eccles, Mark. "Elizabethan Actors I: A-D," Notes and Queries 236.1 (1991): 38-48.

Honigmann, E. A. J. and Susan Brock. Playhouse Wills 1558-1642. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993.

Nungezar, Edwin. A Dictionary of Actors. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968 (orig. Yale University Press, 1929).

Subcategories

This category has only the following subcategory.

A

Admiral's‎ (1 C, 144 P)

Pages in category "William Bird"

The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total.

A

Alice Pierce

J

S

Seven Wise Masters, The

W

World Runs on Wheels, or All Fools but the Fool

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 '''Theatrical records''':
 :Player and Sharer
-::* 1597: Bird and several fellow players sued Francis Langley, owner and builder of the Swan playhouse, where the company of Pembroke's men had been playing for some months; Bird joined the Admiral's men on 10 August, and his name appears frequently in the company accounts recorded by Philip Henslowe in his memorandum book or "diary." Nungezer characterizes Bird's activity in subsequent years as "authorizing payments, borrowing from Henslowe, paying personal debts, selling properties, acknowledging company debts in the capacity of shareholder, and" witnessing various transactions ((Nungezer, p. 48).
+::* 1597: Bird and several fellow players sued Francis Langley, owner and builder of the Swan playhouse, where the company of Pembroke's men had been playing for some months; Bird joined the Admiral's men on 10 August, and his name appears frequently in the company accounts recorded by Philip Henslowe in his memorandum book or "diary." Nungezer characterizes Bird's activity in subsequent years as "authorizing payments, borrowing from Henslowe, paying personal debts, selling properties, acknowledging company debts in the capacity of shareholder, and" witnessing various transactions (Nungezer, p. 48).
-::*1603: Bird is recorded as joining (with other Admiral's men) the newly formed company of the Prince's men, where he remained until Prince Henry's death in 1612.
+::*1602: Bird is credited with the parts of Colmogra and Artabisus in the surviving plot of "Tamar Cham," part 1, the date of which document is generally believed to be 1602, though the play itself was much older.
-::*1613: The company of players in Prince Henry's men reformed as Palgrave's men in January 1613, where Bird remained until 1622 ("probably," Nungezer, p. 49).
+::*1603: Bird is recorded as joining (with other Admiral's men) the newly formed company of the Prince's men, where he remained until Prince Henry's death in 1612. In one entertainment given to celebrate the new king, Bird played the part of Zeal (Nungezer, p. 48).
+::*1613: The company of players in Prince Henry's men reformed as Palgrave's men in January 1613, where Bird remained until 1622 ("probably," according to Nungezer, p. 49).
 : Playwright
-::* Bird also wrote plays, often in collaboration with Samuel Rowley, for example [[Jugurtha, King of Numidia|"Jurgurtha"]], below.
+::* Bird wrote plays, often in collaboration with Samuel Rowley, for example [[Jugurtha, King of Numidia|"Jurgurtha"]], below.
 ::* Bird also contributed additions to plays, for example ''Doctor Faustus'' (1602).
@@ Line 18: / Line 20: @@
 ::* marriage: Bird married Mary sometime before 1600; she died in 1625, and her will survives (Honigmann and Brock, p. 147)
 ::* descendents: 1600, birth of his son, William; 1602, birth of his son Frances; date unknown, birth of his son, Theophilus, unknown but he became a player too and died in 1663 (his will survives); son, Thomas, birthdate unknown.
+::* Bird with Edward Alleyn (and others) on numerous occasions (Nungezer, p. 49).
 : Other
 ::* 1600: Bird's wife borrowed ￡3 to get her husband out of jail.
+gave address as Hogsdon