Who were famous Elizabethan children actors?

Answer 1

Someone answered "There were no Elizabethan children actors and not even actress. The mans were the Elizabethan actors. Mans had to play the womens role. But women did came to watch the plays with their face covered in a mask."

The interesting thing about this answer is that it is actually 100% wrong.

1. There were a number of child actors in Shakespeare's day. They were all boys. At the very end of the 16th century there were a number of acting companies consisting entirely of boys, who played (among other places) at the Blackfriars, an indoor theatre that the King's Men later employed. The boy's companies were allowed to act in the City of London, and were not forced into the suburbs. In the period we were discussing these companies also had some of the best cutting edge plays to perform, including most of Beaumont and Fletcher's work, and were taking business away from the adult companies. Shakespeare refers to this in Hamlet Act 2, scene 2.

2. A number of the boys who had been in the children's company went on to become adult actors. Joseph Taylor, who replaced Burbage as the King's Men's leading actor was formerly with such a company.

3. The main female roles in adult companies were also played by boys, not men.

Juliet, Rosalind, Helena, Ophelia, Hermione, and Cleopatra were all played by boys. The most famous of these was Alexander Cooke, who probably played all these roles and continued acting (in male roles) when he grew up. Another extremely famous boy actor was Christopher Beeston, who went on to become a greater impressario than Henslowe and to found his own boys' company.

4. Although it was considered shameful for women to appear on stage, there was no shame for women to be in the audience. Women were frequently in the audiences both of court performances and public performances. They did not wear masks--this image is the result of a Victorian fantasy which someone created, not contemporary practise.