View source for Nicholas Burt

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
'''Nicholas Burt''' (1621 ? &mdash; after 1689), or '''Birt''' or '''Burght''' among other variants, was a prominent English actor of the seventeenth century. In a long career, he was perhaps best known as the first actor to play the role of Othello in the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] era.<ref>Edwin Nunzeger, ''A Dictionary of Actors and of Other Persons Associated with the Representation of Plays in England before 1642'', New Haven, Yale University Press, 1929; pp. 79-81.</ref>

A "Nicholas Bert" was christened on 27 May 1621, in [[Norwich]]; the record may refer to the actor, though this is not certain. According to James Wright's ''[[Historia Histrionica]]'' ([[1699 in literature|1699]]), Burt began as a [[boy player]] with the [[King's Men (playing company)|King's Men]], an apprentice of [[John Shank]] (died 1636). He was with the celebrated young company [[Beeston's Boys]] in the 1638&ndash;42 period. As a young actor filling female roles, Burt gained particular notice for playing Clariana in [[James Shirley|Shirley's]] ''[[Love's Cruelty]]''.

After the theatres closed in 1642 at the start of the [[English Civil War]], Burt, like some other actors, joined the Royalist army supporting the cause of King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. Like fellow actors [[Charles Hart (17th-century actor)|Charles Hart]] and [[Robert Shatterell]], Burt served as an officer in the regiment of [[Prince Rupert]] in the early and mid-1640s. He most likely saw combat in the battles of [[Battle of Marston Moor|Marston Moor]] and [[Battle of Naseby|Naseby]], and perhaps at [[Battle of Edgehill|Edgehill]] as well.<ref>John H. Astington, "Actors and the Court After 1642," ''Early Modern Literary Studies'', Special Issue 15 (August 2007), pp. 1-23.</ref>

Once the Civil War had ended, Burt returned to acting and to the King's Men: he was one of the performers arrested on 5 February 1648, during an illegal performance of ''[[Rollo Duke of Normandy]]'' (he played Latorch). He was also one of the ten men who tried to restart the King's Men in December 1648, despite the parliamentarians' opposition to playacting.<ref>Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume, "New Light of English Acting Companies in 1646, 1648, and 1660," ''Review of English Studies'', New Series, Vol. 42 No. 168 (November 1991), pp. 487-509.</ref>

With the Restoration, Burt's professional fortunes revived.  Burt took the lead role in a 1660 production of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Othello]]'', the first staging of that play after the theatres re-opened; [[Walter Clun]] won fame for his portrayal of [[Iago]] in that production. [[Samuel Pepys]] was in the audience on 11 October 1660, and saw Burt's Othello again in 1669, as recorded in his Diary. (After that time, though, Burt lost the role to Hart.)

In 1661 Burt became one of the thirteen actors who were original sharers in the newly organized [[King's Company]] under the management of [[Thomas Killigrew]]. He continued with the King's Company until 1678. When the troupe's theatre, the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Theatre Royal]] in [[Drury Lane]], burned down in 1672, the funds to build its replacement had to be raised largely from the actors; Burt invested £160 in the project.<ref>John Payne Collier, "Dryden, Killigrew, and the first company which acted at the Drury Lane Theatre,"  ''The Shakespeare Society's Papers'', Vol. 1, London, 1844; pp. 147-55.</ref>

Beyond Othello, Burt played a range of significant roles,<ref>Nunzeger, p. 81.</ref> in revivals of works by Shakespeare, [[Ben Jonson|Jonson]] and [[John Fletcher (playwright)|Fletcher]]:

* Prince Hal in Shakespeare's ''Henry IV'' plays
* Cleremont in Jonson's ''[[Epicoene, or the Silent Woman|Epicene]]''
* Corvino in ''[[Volpone]]''
* Surly in ''[[The Alchemist (play)|The Alchemist]]''
* Cicero in ''[[Catiline: His Conspiracy|Catiline]]''
* Seleucus in Fletcher's ''[[The Humorous Lieutenant]]''
* Don John Decastrio in ''[[Rule a Wife and Have a Wife]]''
* Tygranes in ''[[A King and No King]]''
* the Elder Loveless in ''[[The Scornful Lady]]''
* Charles in ''[[The Elder Brother]]''

&mdash; and contemporary works, by  [[John Dryden]]:

* Palamede in ''[[Marriage à la mode (play)|Marriage à la mode]]''
* Perez in ''[[Amboyna (play)|Amboyna]]''
* Lysimantes in ''[[The Maiden Queen]]''
* Don Lopez in ''[[An Evening's Love]]''
* Vasquez in ''[[The Indian Emperour]]''
* Camillo in ''[[The Assignation]]''

&mdash; and by other dramatists:

* Maherbal in [[Nathaniel Lee|Lee's]] ''[[Sophonisba (Lee play)|Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow]]''
* Afterwit in [[John Wilson (playwright)|Wilson's]] ''[[The Cheats]]''
* Count Guesselin in [[Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery|Boyle's]] ''[[The Black Prince (play)|The Black Prince]]''.

The date of Burt's death is not known; he was alive at least until 1690.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Nicholas}}

[[Category:17th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:1620s births]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]