# Richard Robinson (actor)

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**Richard Robinson** (died March 1648) was an actor in [English Renaissance theatre](/source/English_Renaissance_theatre) and a member of [Shakespeare's](/source/William_Shakespeare) company the [King's Men](/source/King's_Men_(playing_company)).[1]

## Biography

Robinson started out as a [boy player](/source/Boy_player) with the company; in [1611](/source/1611_in_literature) he played the Lady in their production of *[The Second Maiden's Tragedy](/source/The_Second_Maiden's_Tragedy).* He was cast in their production of [Ben Jonson](/source/Ben_Jonson)'s *[Catiline](/source/Catiline:_His_Conspiracy)* in the same year, and in their *[Bonduca](/source/Bonduca),* c. 1613. He became a sharer in the King's Men in [1619](/source/1619_in_literature), perhaps succeeding [Richard Cowley](/source/Richard_Cowley);[2] and he was cast in their revival of [Webster's](/source/John_Webster) *[The Duchess of Malfi](/source/The_Duchess_of_Malfi)* c. 1621. Robinson reportedly played the part of Wittipol in Jonson's *[The Devil is an Ass](/source/The_Devil_is_an_Ass)* in [1616](/source/1616_in_literature). In the printed text of that play ([1631](/source/1631_in_literature)), Jonson praises Robinson's acting of female roles and calls him an "ingenious youth." Robinson played the role of Aesopus in the company's [1626](/source/1626_in_literature) production of [Massinger's](/source/Philip_Massinger) *[The Roman Actor](/source/The_Roman_Actor),* and Count Orsinio in [Lodowick Carlell](/source/Lodowick_Carlell)'s *[The Deserving Favourite](/source/The_Deserving_Favourite)* ([1629](/source/1629_in_literature)).

Robinson is included in the cast lists for the company's productions of *[Bonduca](/source/Bonduca)*, *[The Double Marriage](/source/The_Double_Marriage)*, *[A Wife for a Month](/source/A_Wife_for_a_Month)*, and *[The Wild Goose Chase](/source/The_Wild_Goose_Chase)*, plays in the canon of [John Fletcher](/source/John_Fletcher_(playwright)) and his collaborators.

According to the last will and testament of [Nicholas Tooley](/source/Nicholas_Tooley), Robinson owed Tooley £29 13*s.* in 1623; Tooley forgave the debt in his will. Robinson married Winifred Burbage (d.1642), the widow of [Richard Burbage](/source/Richard_Burbage).[3] Together with [Cuthbert Burbage](/source/Cuthbert_Burbage), [William Heminges](/source/William_Heminges), [Joseph Taylor](/source/Joseph_Taylor_(actor)) and [John Lowin](/source/John_Lowin), Robinson and his wife, Winifred, filed a Bill of Complaint on 28 January 1632 in the [Court of Requests](/source/Court_of_Requests) against the owner of the Globe, [Sir Matthew Brend](/source/Matthew_Brend), in order to obtain confirmation of an extension of the 31-year lease originally granted by Sir Matthew Brend's father, [Nicholas Brend](/source/Nicholas_Brend).[4]

Robinson was one of the King's Men who signed the dedication of the [first Beaumont and Fletcher folio](/source/Beaumont_and_Fletcher_folios) in [1647](/source/1647_in_literature).

Seventeenth-century sources, including James Wright's *[Historia Histrionica](/source/Historia_Histrionica)* ([1699](/source/1699_in_literature)), falsely report that Robinson was killed in the [siege of Basing House](/source/Siege_of_Basing_House) in October 1645, during the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War). Richard Robinson was probably confused with another actor with a similar name; there was more than one Robinson in [Caroline era](/source/Caroline_era) theatre —; though the actor in question was most likely comedian and fellow King's Man [William Robbins](/source/William_Robbins_(actor)). In fact, Richard Robinson was buried at St. Anne's Church, in Blackfriars, on 23 March 1648.

## Notes

1. [E. K. Chambers](/source/Edmund_Kerchever_Chambers), *The Elizabethan Stage*, 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 2, pp. 336–7.

1. [F. E. Halliday](/source/F._E._Halliday). *A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964,* Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; p. 418.

1. Berry 1987, p. 163.

1. Berry 1987, p. 197.

## References

- Berry, Herbert (1987). [*Shakespeare's Playhouses*](https://archive.org/details/shakespearesplay00berr). New York: AMS Press. pp. [82](https://archive.org/details/shakespearesplay00berr/page/82)–8. ISBN 9780404622893.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Robinson (actor)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Robinson_(actor)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Robinson_(actor)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.