William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He received some education locally but had to stop attending school at age 12 when his family fell into financial ruin. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and they had three children together. Shakespeare went on to have a very successful career as a playwright and poet in London, writing many of his famous works such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet. He died in 1616 at the age of 52 in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.