Lope de Rueda, 1510?-1565, Spanish dramatist. A precursor of the Golden Age of Spanish literature, Rueda was an actor and a manager as well as a playwright. He is said to have created the genre known as pasos (short farces), noted for their use of rustic language and ordinary subjects. One of these is Paso de las aceitunas [incident of the olives]. His work was published posthumously.