William Shakespeare. Born April 1564, at Stratford-upon-avon. Died April 1616. Married Anne Hathaway : two daughters, one son. actor , poet, famous playwright, wrote nearly forty plays. But what was he like as a man? What did he think about when he rode into London for the first time...or when he was writing his plays Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet...ore when his only son died?