English poet and
playwright (1564-1616). Born on April 20 in
Stratford-on-Avon, he is considered by many to be the
greatest writer in
history. He had no
education beyond
grammar school and married
Anne Hathaway, an
older woman, when he was just 18. They had three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith (the latter two were
twins). Hamnet died at only 11 years old, and his father love for his son may have influenced "Hamlet" and other of his tragedies.
After moving to
London (he continued to support his
family back in Stratford), Shakespeare got work as an
actor and playwright for the
King's Men, an extremely
successful acting company. After the King's Men built the
famous Globe Theater, Shakespeare became quite
wealthy. He eventually
retired to Stratford, where he died on his
birthday.
Shakespeare is, of course, best known for his
sonnets and his many
plays, including "
Macbeth," "
Hamlet," "
The Tempest," "
Julius Caesar," "
Romeo and Juliet," "
King Lear," "
Othello," "
Much Ado about Nothing," "
The Taming of the Shrew," "
Henry V," and many, many more. He actually
valued his
poems more than his
plays -- he considered his work for the
stage to be merely
commercial labor to pay his bills. He may have been
bisexual, since many of his
sonnets were written to an
unknown young man.
Research from GURPS Who's Who, compiled by Phil Masters, "William Shakespeare" by William H. Stoddard.