Ingram Frizer (23 September 1561 - August 1627) was an English con man and possible spy who is perhaps best known for killing playwright Christopher Marlowe on 30 May 1593.
Ingram Frizer became involved in William and Robert Cecil's plot to expel the Spanish-backed Queen Isabella and King Albert from England and restore Queen Elizabeth to her throne. With his colleague, Nick Skeres, Frizer committed several murders of people considered likely to betray the existence of the Cecils' plot to the Spaniards. Some of these people, such as Geoffrey Martin and Matthew Quinn, were suggested to Frizer by William Shakespeare.[1] Frizer would have killed Christopher Marlowe, but in an odd twist of fate, Spanish officer Lope de Vega killed Marlowe in an impromptu street duel moments before Frizer would have struck. For saving him the trouble, Frizer thanked Vega, who was confused at this praise from a stranger.
Frizer lived to see the Cecils' plot succeed, and took part in the pro-Elizabethan uprising which marked its fruition. However, he was captured and imprisoned shortly thereafter.[2]
