1567-1619. English actor, thought to have
been Shakespeare's original Hamlet, Othello,
and Lear. He also appeared in first
productions of works by Ben Jonson, Thomas
Kyd, and John Webster. His father James
Burbage (c. 1530-1597) built the first
English playhouse, known as `the Theatre';
his brother Cuthbert Burbage (c. 1566-1636)
built the original Globe Theatre 1599 in
London.