Biography
William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire — his exact birth date is unknown but traditionally celebrated on 23 April. He was the third of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a glovemaker and local alderman, and Mary Arden, of farming stock.
Shakespeare attended the King's New School in Stratford, where he would have received a rigorous classical education in Latin, rhetoric and literature. At eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, who was twenty-six; their daughter Susanna was born six months later, followed by twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585.
By 1592 he was in London and established enough as a playwright to attract professional jealousy. He became a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men — later the King's Men — for whom he wrote virtually all his plays. In 1599 the company built the Globe Theatre on the south bank of the Thames. Shakespeare was both a writer and a businessman: his share of the company's profits made him wealthy enough to buy the second-largest house in Stratford.
He wrote approximately 37 plays, 154 sonnets and several longer poems across a career of roughly 25 years. His work spans tragedy (Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear), comedy (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night), romance (The Tempest, The Winter's Tale) and history (Henry V, Richard III).
Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1613 and died on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. He was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His collected plays were published posthumously in the First Folio of 1623.