English dramatist apparently employed by the
theatrical manager Philip Henslowe. Sometimes he
is described as William Rowley’s brother, but
they seem not to have been related.
After 1601 Rowley acted with and wrote plays for
the Admiral’s Men and other companies. Several
plays on which he is thought to have
collaborated are lost. His When You See Me, You
Know Me, or The Famous Chronicle Historie of
King Henrie the Eight (probably performed 1604;
published 1605) resembles William Shakespeare’s
Henry VIII (which may have been influenced by
it) in owing something to popular tradition. His
only other extant play, The Noble Souldier. Or,
A Contract Broken, Justly Reveng’d, a tragedy
(1634), was probably written largely by Thomas
Dekker. Rowley has also been credited with the
prose scenes in some of Shakespeare’s plays, and
he is thought to have made some additions to
Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.
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