Elle Russ

Descendant of Richard Burbage, Shakespeare's most celebrated actor. Burbage was the star of William Shakespeare's theatre company, "The Chamberlain's Men" which mutated into the "King's Men" on the accession of James I in 1603. He played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III and King Lear. He was a close friend of the poet and was even remembered in his will. He died in 1619. Burbage came from an acting family and was a popular performer by the age of 20. After the death of his father, Richard and his brother Cuthbert stepped in to rescue the family's interests in two London theatres. The Blackfriars Theatre they kept, the other, called simply The Theatre was dismantled when they could not resolve terms for a new lease. The beams, posts, and other remnants of The Theatre were moved to a new location on the south side of the Thames River and reassembled into the new playhouse, The Globe Theatre.