William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets over the course of his life. Some of his most famous plays include Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. Shakespeare lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and wrote plays that were performed in theaters in London, such as the Globe Theatre which he was a shareholder of. The Globe Theatre opened in 1599 and was owned by actors who were also shareholders in the theater company.