William Shakespeare quick facts

I adore Shakespeare because he does beautiful things with language. Maybe it is because I started reading drama, history, and poetry when I was young. Some of my friends said that Shakespeare appeals to people of certain intelligence. I do agree with that. You need some linguistic and literary intelligence to fully understand him.

I don't think one can just read him and say "I like ...or dislike him". It takes a bit of studying for one to make a statement like that. 

So, here are some quick facts about Will:

• No one knows the actual birthday of Shakespeare! April 23rd has been generally used - the same day as St. George's Day, the Patron Saint of England
• In his will, Shakespeare left his wife (Anne Hathaway) his "second-best" bed.  She was 8 years older than William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare and his company built TWO Globe Theatres!
• Richard II and King John are the only two Shakespearean plays containing no prose. 
• Shakespeare was said to have enjoyed playing the part of the ghost in Hamlet.
• With 1770 lines, The Comedy of Errors is the shortest Shakespearean play. 
• Shakespeare's Father, John was a money lender! William was also involved in Money lending!
• The oldest existing copy of a complete American-made feature film is that of Richard III, a 1912 silent movie based on Shakespeare's play. It was produced by M. B. Dudley Amusement Company. 
• Some researchers claim that Queen Elizabeth I wrote Shakespeare's plays. Few scholars take this claim seriously. 
• We do not really know what Shakespeare looked like! No portraits were painted of Shakespeare whilst he was still alive! 
• Shakespeare's original grave marker showed him holding a bag of grain. Citizens of Stratford replaced the bag with a quill in 1747, perhaps in anticipation of the tourists who would come to see the final resting place of the world's greatest wielder or quills. 

I was able to find the 1912 Richard III Feature Film on Amazon.

Link: Shakespeare on Wikipedia