1579-1625
Jacobean playwright and frequent writing partner of Frances Beaumont was baptized on this day in Rye, England (Sussex), where he was born some time earlier in the month. His father was a prominent cleric who was, among other things, chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I until he fell out of favor with her. His father died not long after this, so it fell to an uncle to take in Fletcher and his seven siblings. It would prove to be an important catalyst in his life, as his uncle, Giles Fletcher, was a poet. This was apparently the only benefit that he gained from this particular family connection, as his uncle too would become persona non grata through an ill fated patronage. It is thought that young John entered college at the University of Cambridge at just the age of 11. From what records remain, he was studying to follow in his father's footsteps and take up a career in the church. Somehow, and it is unclear how it came about, he instead made his way into London theatrical circles. Though he wrote many plays on his own, he is by far more well known as a writing collaborator of Beaumont. It is again unclear how he came to know Beaumont, but Fletcher was, at the beginning of his work in London, in the company of several theatrical company's. The first of which was as a writer for the Children of the Chapel, a choir that clearly had connections with the church and may provide some clue as to how he ended up in this line of work in the first place. This is likely the meeting place for Beaumont and Fletcher's, as their earliest collaborations were penned for the Children. Early in his career, it can also be confirmed that Fletcher was, for a time, in the employ of well known writer Ben Jonson. Aside from his collaboration with Beaumont, Fletcher is most famous for his being a later associate of Shakespeare, who eventually would be the famous writer's successor at the King's Men as house playwright. Of course, as with all important writers, artists and historical figures, please follow links below for more information. As far as films are concerned Fletcher's work has only been used in six productions, the most recent of which was in 1999 (see: Shakespeare's Women & Claire Bloom). None of these productions have been based on his work with Beaumont or even his solo work, but have been based solely on one of his collaborations with Shakespear: the play Henry VIII. The first two films based on this work came in the 1910's; the first being the rare early near-feature length (by today's standards) British production Henry VIII in 1911. It was a heavily promoted film, is listed as Britain's first feature film and is now sadly lost. The second film by contrast, really was a short and only featured a section of the original play. Cardinal Wolsey was a Vitagraph production released the following year (thus was a product of the U.S.A.) and was co-directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Laurence Trimble. The film featured Hal Reid and Julia Swayne Gordon in the lead roles, supported strongly by Tefft Johnson as Henry VIII and Clara Kimball Young as Anne Boleyn. The next production of the play, was for television a whopping 57 years later, as an episode of the short lived BBC West series "Whatever Next?" airing the 14th of June in 1969. Just like we are not completely certain of Fletcher's actual birth date, we are also not totally certain of his death date. He died at the age of 45 from plague on, or about, the 28th of August in 1625. He is entombed at London's Southwark Cathedral.
Source: Connie Nisinger [Find a Grave[)
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