Category:Richard Tarlton

Richard Tarlton was so celebrated as the premier comedian of his time that he was eulogized in a play by his fellow company players in one of their popular repertory pieces, The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (S. R. 31 July 1590; published, 1590). In keeping with his theatrical career, Tarlton was associated with other forms of popular entertainments such as ballads, jests, and jigs; a posthumous collection, Tarlton's Jests (1600), confirms that his reputation extended well beyond his life. A feature of his theatrics was his skill as a musician; the primary image that depicts Tarlton from his times features him playing a pipe and tabor. In addition, he was a superb athlete, noted specifically in his time for fencing. He also was a writer; a now lost "Seven Deadly Sins" (1585) is attributed to him.

Tarlton undoubtedly had a stage career before 1583, when the Queen's men were created, but most of the details about his professional life fall within that company's tenure. Thomas Nashe, a pamphleteer and playwright whose career was beginning as Tarlton's closed, provided anecdotes about Tarlton's amusement of Queen Elizabeth in Strange News (1592). A spate of publications full of stories of dubious accuracy also capitalized on Tarlton's fame, including a ballad called Tarltons Farewell and another called Tarltons Newes out of Purgatorie ... Published by an old companion of his, Robin Goodfellow (c. 1590).