William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He married Anne Hathaway and had three children, though his son Hamnet died at a young age. Shakespeare left little record of his life during the late 1580s, but began establishing himself as a playwright and actor in London in the early 1590s. He was a founding member and shareholder of the Globe Theater. Shakespeare authored around 38 plays and 154 sonnets throughout his career before dying on his birthday in 1616 at the age of 52, leaving most of his possessions to his daughter Susanna.
