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John Fletcher

John Fletcher, 1579-1625, English dramatist, best known for his collaboration with Francis Beaumont.

Little is known of Fletcher's early career, but beginning in 1607, he collaborated with Beaumont on a series of plays. A posthumous collection of their works, Fifty Comedies and Tragedies (1679), includes dozens of plays written by Fletcher -- not only with Beaumont, but also with Massinger, and several entirely his own work. The most famous are The Faithful Shepherdess, Philaster, The Maid's Tragedy, and A King and No King. He is also believed to have collaborated with William Shakespeare on several works, perhaps including Henry VIII and Two Noble Kinsmen.

Fletcher died in the London plague of 1625. In the decades after his death, Beaumont and Fletcher's popularity exceeded even that of Shakespeare, and their works were a staple in the newly opened theatres after the Restoration.