William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He married Anne Hathaway at age 18 and had three children together. Some of his most famous plays include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616 at the age of 52.