William shakespeare, the greatest and the most famous of english writers, and probably the greatest playwright who has ever lived, was born in stratford-on-avon. we know very little about his life. the things that we know about shakespeare's life begin with the date when he was baptized in the church of stratford, on april 26, 1564, when he was only a few days old. so he has believed to have been born on april 23. though little is known about william's childhood, there is every reason to believe that he was educated at the local grammar school. when little over eighteen he married anne halthaway of shottery. william lived in stratford until he was about twenty-one, when he went to london. we do not know why he left stratford-on-avon. there is a story that shakespeare's first job in london was holding rich men's horses at the theatre door. but nobody can be sure that this story is true. later, shakespeare became an actor and a member of one of the chief acting companies. soon he began to write plays for this company and in a few years became a well-known author. shakespeare's experience as an actor (although he usually acted only small parts, like the ghost in hamlet) helped him greatly in the writing of his plays. his knowledge of the age and his poetical genius made his plays the most wonderful ones ever written. shakespeare’s wrote 37 plays. among them there are deep tragedies, such as «hamlet», «king lear» and «othello». macbeth, light comedies, such as «all’s well that ends well», «twelfth night», historical dramas, such as «henry 4», «richard 3». most of shakespeare's plays were not published in his lifetime. so some of them may have been lost in the five when the «globe» burned down in 1613. shakespeare’s spent the last years of his life at stratford, where he died in 1616. he was buried in the church of stratford. a monument was erected to the memory of the great playwright in the poet's corner in westminster abbey.только правильно!
