- Alexander Cooke
Alexander Cooke (died February 1614) was an actor in the King's Men, the acting company of
William Shakespeare andRichard Burbage . [E. K. Chambers, "The Elizabethan Stage," 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 2 pp. 311-12.]Edmond Malone introduced the hypothesis, still current though far from certain, that Cooke originatedShakespeare 's principal female roles. Cooke was not a sharer in the King's Men when the company received its royal charter early in 1603, yet before the year was out he is a "principal tragedian" in the cast list forBen Jonson 's "Sejanus". [F. E. Halliday , "A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964," Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; pp. 114-15.] This might indicate that he was a young actor in a prominent female role, perhaps Agrippina. Cooke was also cast in "Volpone " (1605), in which he may have been Lady Would-be. He is also named in the cast-lists for Jonson's "The Alchemist" (1610) and "" (1611) and for Beaumont and Fletcher's "The Captain" (c. 1612).Cooke became a shareholder in the King's Men in 1604, when the number of shareholders was expanded to twelve. Alexander Cooke had a brother John;
John Payne Collier speculated that this John Cooke was the author of "Greene's Tu Quoque ."Cooke appears to have been apprenticed to
John Heminges ; he refers to Heminges as "my master" in his last will and testament. That will named Heminges andHenry Condell as trustees of his children — his sons Francis (born in 1605) and Alexander (1614), and daughters Rebecca (1607) and Alice (1611). Cooke resided in Hill's Rents, in the parish of St. Saviour's,Southwark . His funeral took place on February 25, 1614.In
Gary Blackwood 's 1998 novel "The Shakespeare Stealer ", Cooke is portrayed as the hero's best friend, Sander.References
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