Full Name: William Shakespeare.
Nicknames: Bard of Avon, The Bard, Swan of Avon.

Father: John Shakespeare (d. 1601).
Mother: Mary Arden (d. 1608).
Wife: Anne Hathaway (b. 1556, d. 1623).
Daughter: Susanna (b. 26-May-1583).
Son: Hamnet ( 1585-1596).
Daughter: Judith ( b. 1585).

Date of Birth: 23 April 1564.
Birth Place: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

Date of Death: 23 April 1616 (aged 52).
Death Place: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Cause of Death: Unspecified.
Remains/Buried: Holy Trinity Churchyard, Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian.
Race or Ethnicity: White.
Education: King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon.
Occupation: Dramatist, Playwright, Poet, Actor.
Period: English Renaissance.
Nationality: England.

Notable Works: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello.

Influenced: Arthur Schopenhauer, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, John Keats, W. B. Yeats, P B Shelley, Lord Byron.

English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is also called Bard of Avon, The Bard, Swan of Avon. He wrote the famous 154 Sonnets and numerous highly successful oft-quoted dramatic works including the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello etc. He was born in the parish church Holy Trinity of Stratford upon Avon and baptised there on 23-26 April 1564. Although birth and death dates were not recorded in Shakespeare's time. He lived with his parents on Henley Street, the first of the four sons born to John Shakespeare (c1530-1601) and Mary Arden (c1540-1608), who also had four daughters. Shakespeare's family were fairly poor, so he was forced to leave school at an early age to find work. On November 28, 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies and historical plays. He usually directed his own plays, and in some cases, even acted in them. From 1585 to 92, he led a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics were Shakespeare's genius and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called Bardolatry.