Date of birth unknown. The company’s ‘thin man’. On stage as ‘an actor’ in the induction of The Taming of the Shrew. As a beadle in 2 Henry IV (ca. 1597), ‘much is made of Sinklo’s skinny physique in this role, and the insults leveled at him by Doll and Mistress Quickly include ‘nut-hook’, ‘starved bloodhound’ and ‘thin thing’ (Wikipedia). The likeness with the apothecary is obvious, and the actor in question can be recognized in many a Shakespeare creation : ‘Based on his thin appearance, other characters Sinklo could have played include according to Wikipedia :
- Master Pinch in The Comedy of Errors (before 1595), described as
‘a hungry-faced villain’ - The Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet (1594), told by Romeo that
‘famine is in thy cheeks.’ - Thersites in Troilus and Cressida, described as a ‘fragment’.
- Robert Faulconbridge in King John (ca. 1595-6), whose legs are
‘riding-rods’ and who has arms ‘like eel-skins stuff’d’. - Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597).
- Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ca. 1594).’
The description also fits Sir Andrew Aguecheeck in Twelfth-Night (ca. 1601), who is long and thin ‘like a distaff’. 1 His name is apparently a pun on his ‘heroic’ attitude. And if his face shows only the slightest resemblance to the name, it leaves him a true Knight (of the Sad Countenance) indeed. But the financially starving Sir Andrew is principally one of the pack that is after the rich Countess Olivia in hope of marriage : ever seen a bloodhound chasing a hot scent?
Like Sir Andrew, Faulconbridge is long and thin, and the beadle a nuthook (long, thin, and stooping). Like Sir Andrew, the beadle is a ‘starved bloodhound’ as well. And as such a strong link between Sir Andrew around 1601 and the hungry-faced villain of an apothecary in 1594. As a result there seems to be no space for doubt on John Sincler’s employment with the Chamberlain’s Men at any time between the patronages of Derby and James I.
1
This in perfect chiaroscuro with Richard Burbage’s short and fat Sir Toby Belch. Because of their equally sharp contrast between knights as fool and wit, and despite the reversed master-servant relationship, Sir Andrew Aguecheek is amazingly akin to that more famous knight from La Mancha (1605).