Peele, George (c. 1558–c. 1596)

English dramatist and poet. His surviving plays are a pastoral, The Arraignment of Paris (1584), Edward I (1593), The Battle of Alcazar (1594), a fantastic comedy, The Old Wives' Tale (1595), and the tragedy, David and Bethsabe (1599). He wrote many miscellaneous verses, the best perhaps being the ‘gratulatory poem’ The Honour of the Garter (1593).

Peele was born in London. From Christ's Hospital he went to Oxford, where he had a reputation as a poet and wrote his Tale of Troy (1589). It is generally assumed that he became an actor, but nothing is known of his performances.