William Shakespeare was born in 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. Located in the centre of England, the town was (and still is) an important river-crossing (36)________. and market centre. His father, John, trained as a (37)________and married Mary Arden, the daughter of Robert Arden, a farmer from the (38)________village of Wilmot.
We do not know when or why Shakespeare left Stratford for London, or what he was doing before becoming a (39)________actor and dramatist in the capital. There are various (40)________ and stories about the so-called "lost years" between 1585 and 1592, a period for which there is (41)________no evidence concerning his life.
In 1594, Shakespeare (42)________others in forming a new theatre company, under the patronage of the Lord Chamberlain, with Richard Burbage as its leading actor. For almost 20 years Shakespeare was its (43)________dramatist, producing on average two plays a year. Burbage played roles such as Richard III, Hamlet, Othello and Lear.
(44)________________. One of them was Hamlet and, after the accession of James I, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.
From around 1611 Shakespeare seems largely to have disengaged himself from the London theatre world. (45)________________. In March 1616 he signed his will, in which he left substantial property and other bequests to his family and friends, including theatre colleagues in the King’’s Men.
(46)________________. And he was buried in Holy Trinity Church two days later.