Who Was Shakespeare?

"Little is actually known for sure about the man we call William Shakespeare, although his is a name familiar to nearly every English speaking person. His birthday is a guess, and just what he looked like is a mystery. Even his identity itself is sometimes disputed. But most people today consider Shakespeare the greatest of all dramatists. His plays demonstrate a profound understanding of the nature of humanity. His skill with language and his ability to construct a story through dramatic and poetic means is unequaled.

The generally accepted facts are as follows: Shakespeare was born in 1564, the third child and first son of John Shakespeare and his wife Mary Arden, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. John Shakespeare was a landowner, a merchant, a glovemaker, and a man on a political track. In 1567 he became "high bailiff," the highest elected office in Stratford, equivalent to a mayor today.

William was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. The exact date is known from town records. He most likely attended the local grammar school, the King's New School, where his teachers held Oxford degrees and taught a rigorous program of study.

In 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer from the nearby village of Shottery. In 1583, they had a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585. (Hamnet died at age eleven).

Around 1588 Shakespeare and his family moved to London and within a few years he had achieved some success as an actor, a poet and a playwright. The Sonnets especially established his reputation as a gifted and popular poet, but it is the 38 plays he wrote or collaborated on that have firmly established his reputation as the greatest dramatist who ever lived.

Shakespeare became a charter member of a theatrical company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, in 1594. He first worked in theatres owned by James Burbage northeast of London, the Theatre and the Curtain. In 1598 Burbage moved to Bankside, along the Thames River, and built the Globe Theatre. As a partner in the Globe, (and later the Blackfriars Theatre, acquired in 1608), Shakespeare profited from its success. His plays were performed at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, who became sponsor of his theatrical troupe in 1603. Its name was changed to the King's Men"

.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html