Born: 23 April 1564 · Died: 23 April 1616 · Age: 52
English playwright and poet whose works, including Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, are performed more than any other dramatist's
Did you know?He is credited with introducing thousands of new words and phrases into the English language through his writing.
Quick facts
Date of birth23 April 1564
Date of death23 April 1616
Age at death52
NationalityEnglish
BirthplaceStratford-upon-Avon, England
Occupationplaywright, poet, actor
Editor's Take:
The striking thing about Shakespeare is how little we know about the man compared with how much we know his work. A glove-maker's son from a market town, he wrote for a popular theatre where his audience ranged from apprentices standing in the yard to courtiers in the galleries. That mixed crowd may explain why his plays blend bawdy jokes, sword fights and some of the deepest reflections on love, power and death ever written. More than four hundred years later his plays are still performed, filmed and reimagined in every corner of the world. His influence on how English speakers think and talk is so deep that most people quote him without realising it.
Key Milestones
1582: Marries Anne Hathaway in Stratford
1592: Is already known as a playwright in London
1599: The Globe Theatre opens with his company
1600: Hamlet is written around this time
1603: His company becomes the King's Men
1623: Friends publish the First Folio of his plays
Playwright and poet widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language; traditionally born and died on April 23.
“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
