- Robert Benfield
Robert Benfield (died July
1649 ) was a seventeenth-century actor, noted for his longterm membership in the King's Men in the years and decades afterWilliam Shakespeare 's retirement and death.Nothing is known of Benfield's early life. He was most likely with the
Lady Elizabeth's Men in 1613, and acted in their productions of Fletcher's "The Coxcomb " and the Fletcher/Massinger play "The Honest Man's Fortune " in that year. Benfield soon joined the King's Men, possibly to replaceWilliam Ostler , who died unexpectedly in December 1614. [E. K. Chambers, "The Elizabethan Stage," 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 2, p. 303.] He acted in the company's production ofJohn Webster 's "The Duchess of Malfi " c. 1621.He was a shareholder in the company by 1619, when he is listed in the renewed patent for the King's Men issued in that year. Benfield also eventually became a sharer in both the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, but only after a conflict: in 1635 he was one of three King's Men (the others were
Thomas Pollard andEliard Swanston ) who petitioned theLord Chamberlain ,Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke , for the right to buy shares from fellow King's ManJohn Shank and fromCuthbert Burbage . [F. E. Halliday , "A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964," Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; pp. 60, 448-9.]Benfield was one of the ten King's Men who signed the dedication of the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. In the 25 cast lists added to the second Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1679, Benfield is mentioned 18 times:
* "
The Coxcomb "
* "The Custom of the Country"
* "The Double Marriage "
* "The False One "
* "The Honest Man's Fortune "
* "The Humorous Lieutenant "
* "The Island Princess "
* "The Knight of Malta "
* "The Little French Lawyer "
* "The Lovers' Progress "
* "The Mad Lover "
* "The Maid in the Mill "
* "The Pilgrim "
* "The Prophetess "
* "The Spanish Curate "
* "The Wild Goose Chase "
* "A Wife for a Month "
* "Women Pleased "Benfield's total equals those of Joseph Taylor and
John Underwood , and is second only toJohn Lowin 's 21.Benfield played Junius Rusticus in "
The Roman Actor ", Doctor Makewell in "The Soddered Citizen ", Ladislaus the King of Hungary in "The Picture ", Marcellus in "Believe as You List ", the King in "The Deserving Favourite ", and Antharis in "The Swisser ".The parish records of St. Giles without
Cripplegate in London, close to theFortune Playhouse and the home of many actors in Benfield's era, record a few facts of Benfield's personal life. A son, James, was christened on January 1, 1628 (all dates new style). Benfield buried his wife Mary on January 21, 1629, and his son Bartholomew and daughter Elizabeth on July 21 and August 1, 1631, respectively. His own funeral occurred on July 28, 1649. [G. E. Bentley, "Records of Players in the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate," "Papers of the Modern language Association" Vol. 44 No. 3 (September 1929), pp. 789-826; see p. 794.]The twentieth-century scholar T. W. Baldwin developed a hypothesis that the King's Men assigned specific actors to specific stock roles: Taylor played "hero" parts, Lowin played "tyrant" parts, etc. In Baldwin's schema (which has been treated skeptically by many other commentators), Benfield's specialty lay in "dignitary" roles. [T. W. Baldwin, "Organisation and Personnel of the Shakespearean Company", Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1927.]
References
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