Thomas Dekker

Woodcut from title page of published play (Dekker his Dreame) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Very little is known of Dekker's early life, though it is likely he was born in London around 1572. While he probably did not attend university, his capable Latin translations suggest he did attend grammar school. Dekker married a woman named Mary and had three daughters in 1594, 1598, and 1602. From around 1598 he worked as a playwright for The Admiral's Men, and engaged in the War of the Theatres with Ben Jonson and John Marston. Dekker wrote more than forty plays for The Admiral's Men, many of which are lost. His works include collaborating on Shakespeare's Sir Thomas More, Old Fortunatas and Satiromastix. He collaborated with Thomas Middleton on The Honest Whore and The Roaring Girl, and with John Webster wrote Westward Ho and Northward Ho. Dekker was seriously impoverished for most of his career, in and out of debtor's prison for much of his life (including in 1598 and 1599, the year The Shoemaker's Holiday was performed). From 1612 to 1619 Dekker was imprisoned for seven years because of a debt to the father of fellow playwright John Webster...