- William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright now widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. His surviving works include at least 38 plays, two long narrative poems and 154 sonnets, as well as a variety of other poems. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, and at 18 married Anne Hathaway, …
- John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare (c.1530 - September 1601) was a glover, farmer and alderman in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the father of William Shakespeare. As with his son William, only a limited amount is known about John Shakespeare's life. It is possible, although not certain, that he was the son of a Mr. Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield who was given land for his services to King Henry VII of England. John Shakespeare was a very successful man during the early part of his career.
- John Hall
John Hall (died 1635) was a physician and son-in-law of William Shakespeare. He was born at Carlton, Bedfordshire and studied at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1589, receiving a B.A. in 1593 and a M.A. in 1597. He became a physician, although he did not hold an English medical degree; it has been speculated that he studied medicine in France. He established a practice in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was the only doctor in the town.
- Peter Brook
Peter Brook is a British theatre and film director and innovator, and considered one of the most influential and revered directors and theatre theorists.
- Jonathan Bate
Jonathan Bate CBE (born June 26, 1958) is a British scholar of Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He was educated at Sevenoaks School and the University of Cambridge. He was formerly a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and then King Alfred Professor of English Literature at Liverpool University before becoming Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at Warwick University.
- John Barton
John Barton, (26 November 1928-), is a noted English stage director whose career has been almost entirely with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Born in London, the son of a senior civil servant, Barton went to Eton and Cambridge. He remained at King's as Fellow and lay dean where he became an all-round theatre man. In 1960, when he was asked by Peter Hall to join him in running the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- John Maples
John Cradock Maples (born 22 April 1943) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West from 1983 until he lost the seat at the 1992 general election. He re-entered Parliament as MP for Stratford-upon-Avon in 1997. He has held the seat, one of the safest Conservative seats, in both the 2001 and 2005 general elections. Maples was a member of William Hague's shadow cabinet from 1997 to 2000, …
- Richard Field
Richard Field was a publisher in Elizabethan London, known for his close association with William Shakespeare. Field was about two and a half years older than Shakespeare. He grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and lived on Bridge Street, close to the Shakespeares on Henley Street. His father was a tanner. It is often thought likely that Shakespeare and Field knew each other in Stratford, since they were similar in age and their fathers were in similar businesses.
- Hamnet Shakespeare
Hamnet Shakespeare (baptized February 2 1585 - buried August 11 1596) was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare. Relatively little is known about the short life of this child, who might have carried on the Shakespeare family name had he survived to adulthood. Hamnet and his twin sister Judith were born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptized on February 2 1585 in Holy Trinity Church by Richard Barton of Coventry.
- Susanna Hall
Susanna Shakespeare (November 1582-1648), later Susanna Hall, was the eldest child of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. Susanna was born merely six months after her parents' marriage; Shakespeare was 18, and Hathaway 26. Susanna was baptised on 26 May 1583. Her baptism took place in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon. Along with her brother Hamnet and younger sister Judith, she was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Judith Shakespeare
Judith Quiney, also known as Judith Shakespeare, was William Shakespeare's daughter, and twin sister to Hamnet Shakespeare. She was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her mother was Anne Hathaway, and her older sister was Susanna Shakespeare. She was born in England in 1585. She and her twin brother were baptised in the Stratford Parish Church on 2 February 1585. She is said to have been named after a close friend of the family, Judith Sadler, …
- Hugh Clopton
Hugh Clopton (c.1440-September 15, 1496) was Lord Mayor of London in 1491/92. He was born at Clopton House, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His house in Stratford-upon-Avon eventually became William Shakespeare's finest home, New Place. He financed the construction of a stone bridge over the River Avon, now known as the Clopton Bridge. Although he has often been referred to as "Sir" Hugh, records show that Clopton was never in fact knighted.
- Anne Wood
Anne Wood CBE is a British children's television producer. Her independent production company, "Ragdoll Productions", was founded in 1984 and specialises in making original programming for children 10 and under. Ragdoll is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK and has produced "Pob", "Brum", "Rosie and Jim", "Tots TV", "Teletubbies", "Boohbah" and most recently "In the Night Garden".
- Charles Kay
Charles Kay, born Charles Piff (31 August, 1930 -) in Coventry, West Midlands, is an English actor. Kay studied medicine, then decided to train for the stage. He went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and after graduation, joined the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. He created the roles of Jimmy in Arnold Wesker's "Roots" (1959) and Charles V in John Osborne's "Luther" (1961).
- Glen Byam Shaw
Glen Byam Shaw (13 December 1904 - 29 April 1986) was an English actor and theatre director. He was born in London, the son of artist John Liston Byam Shaw. After a youthful relationship with the poet, Siegfried Sassoon (who remained one of his closest friends), he married the actress, Angela Baddeley. As an actor, he worked mostly in the theatre and during the 1930s he began directing in the West End. Between 1947 to 1956 he was the director of the Old Vic Theatre School, …
- Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence, 6 June 1959) is a British comedienne and actress. Lawrence has been a member of the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe since 1987 and came to public attention as a regular guest on the Channel 4 improvisational comedy series "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on its launch in 1988. She went on have her own short-lived television series "Josie" in 1991, …
- Julie Harris
Julie Harris (born Julia Ann Harris on December 2, 1925) is a distinguished American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
- Guy Woolfenden
Guy Anthony Woolfenden OBE (born July 12, 1937) is an English composer and conductor. He was born in Ipswich and educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, London, and Whitgift School, Croydon. He studied music at Christ's College in Cambridge and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1961 and was Head of Music from 1963 to 1998.
- John Hutton
John Hutton (born 1906 in New Zealand and died 1978 in England) is most famous for his glass engravings on the Great West Screen of Coventry Cathedral, UK, known as the "Screen of Saints and Angels", 66 larger-than-life figures that took ten years of creation (e.g. the angel of annunciation, the angel of the resurrection, the angel of the measuring rod), for which he received instant acclaim in 1962.
- Ira Aldridge
Ira Frederick Aldridge was an American stage actor who made his career largely on the London stage. He is the only actor of African American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage with bronze plaques at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Miles Richardson
Miles Richardson is a British radio, film, television and theatre actor. He was born on July 15 1963 in Battersea, London to parents Ian and Maroussia Richardson. He was educated and raised in London, Stratford-upon-Avon and New York. He graduated from Arts Educational Drama College in 1982, where he won the award for Best Actor. He has worked extensively in reperatory theatre throughout the UK, including Newcastle upon Tyne, York, Birmingham, Pitlochry and Mold, …
- Simon Gilbert
Simon Gilbert (born on 23 May, 1965 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England), is a drummer and a former member of the English band Suede. He is currently the drummer for international band Futon, based in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Gary Barnett
Gary Barnett (born March 11, 1963 in Stratford-upon-Avon) was a professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Coventry City, Oxford United, Wimbledon, Fulham, Huddersfield Town, Leyton Orient, Barry Town & Kidderminster Harriers.
- Marius Goring
Marius Goring CBE (May 23, 1912 - September 30, 1998) was an English stage and cinema actor. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in "A Matter of Life and Death" and as Julian Craster in "The Red Shoes". He frequently played French and German roles. Goring was born in Newport, Isle of Wight, the son of Doctor Charles Goring and Kate Macdonald.
- Scarlett Strallen
Scarlett Strallen is a British actress who is currently playing the title role of the West End production of "Mary Poppins". This is her second run in this musical, as she had previously been involved in the show from the end of 2005 to replace Laura Michelle Kelly, but left in November 2006 to join the The Royal Shakespeare Company's musical production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in Stratford. She returned to "Mary Poppins" on May 21 2007.
- Simon Taylor-Davis
Simon Taylor-Davis (born 1982; also credited as Simon Taylor) is lead guitarist and backing vocalist of London based 'new-rave' band Klaxons. Simon grew up in Stratford-Upon-Avon with fellow band member James Righton. They were in the band Hollywood Is A Verb together in 2004, alongside members of Pull Tiger Tail, before forming Klaxons with Jamie Reynolds. Simon attended Stratford-Upon-Avon High School, where he was head boy, …
- Michael Reardon
Michael Reardon is an English architect, historic building consultant, and interior designer. He worked on the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, as well as being the inspecting architect for Birmingham's St. Philip's Cathedral and Hereford Cathedral. His most notable project, the Swan Theatre, was aided by Tim Furby. The theatre was designed for The Royal Shakespeare Company in the shell of the original festival theatre.
- Michael Reardon
Michael Reardon is an English architect, historic building consultant, and interior designer. He worked on the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, as well as being the inspecting architect for Birmingham's St. Philip's Cathedral and Hereford Cathedral. His most notable project, the Swan Theatre, was aided by Tim Furby. The theatre was designed for The Royal Shakespeare Company in the shell of the original festival theatre.
- Neil Codling
Neil Codling (born Neil John Codling, on December 5, 1973, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England) is a singer-songwriter and former keyboardist for the popular English band Suede. He is the cousin of their drummer Simon Gilbert. He joined the band in early 1996 to record their 3rd album, "Coming Up" and co-wrote the album's epic centrepiece, 'The Chemistry Between Us'. For 1999's electronic 'Head Music' album his role become considerably larger within the band, …
- Linzi Hateley
Linzi Hateley (born October 23, 1970 in Birmingham) is an English stage actress who is currently starring as one of the leads in the West End production of the musical "Mamma Mia!". Her performance as Donna started on March 5, 2007. As a child Hately attended Italia Conti Academy. She appeared as one of the orphans in the stage musical Annie and on television in several episodes of the BBC children's series Grange Hill.
- Justin Edwards
Justin Edwards (b. 1972 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire) is an English actor, comedian and singer. Justin is also a member of sketch trio The Consultants alongside Neil Edmond and James Rawlings. In 2002 they won the Perrier award Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh fringe festival. The Consultants went on to record four series for BBC Radio 4 between 2002 and 2005. In the guise of alcoholic children's entertainer Jeremy Lion, …
- Thomas Jenkins
Thomas Jenkins was the headmaster of the King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford-upon-Avon in England starting in 1575. As such, his claim to fame is that William Shakespeare is considered likely to have been one of his students. No school records from the period survive; however, Jenkins is believed to have been of Welsh extraction, and a Welsh schoolmaster Sir Hugh Evans features in Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor".
- James Flint
James Flint is a British novelist. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1968 he did a journalistic apprenticeship on the "Times of India" in New Delhi before studying philosophy and psychology at Wadham College, Oxford. On graduating he spent a year in New York City studying jazz theory and technique, returning to the UK to take an MA in Philosophy and Literature at the University of Warwick.
- John Laurie
John Laurie (25 March 1897 - 23 June 1980) was an actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. He was educated at Dumfries Academy. He is probably most recognisable for his role as Private James Frazer, the gaunt-faced, intense, pessimistic undertaker and Home Guard soldier in the popular BBC sitcom "Dad's Army" from 1968 to 1977. When the plot resulted in the cast being left in some perceived peril, …
- William Bridges-Adams
William Bridges-Adams was a British theatre director, associated closely with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 1919 until 1934. Under his leadership the annual short festivals of Shakespeare’s plays first took on the international fame and significance which they hold to this day. His design for the stage layout of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was followed by architect Elisabeth Scott when the theatre was rebuilt, after a fire in 1932.
- Brian Griffiths
Brian Griffiths (born 1968, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK) is an artist based in London. He produces three dimensional collages using a range of sources, including old textbooks, fifties and sixties furniture, remnants of cut linoleum and polystyrene. His most well known works are his full-size cardboard reconstructions of computer work stations. From 1995-1996 Griffiths studied for his M.A. in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
- Pamela Brown
Pamela Mary Brown (July 8, 1917 - September 18, 1975) was an English stage and film actress, born in Hampstead, London to George Edward Brown, a journalist, and his wife, Helen Blanche Ellerton. After attending RADA, she made her stage debut in 1936 as Juliet in a Stratford-upon-Avon production of "Romeo and Juliet".
- Bille Brown
Bille Brown (born 1952) is an Australian Shakespearean actor and acclaimed writer of plays. Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at the University of Queensland. He is a member of the Queensland Theatre Company, with one of his fellow actors in the QTC being Geoffrey Rush. He also appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London, in England.
- Gordon James Ramsay OBE
Gordon Ramsay (Fee Group £16k - £25k) Scottish by birth, Gordon was brought up in England after his parents moved south to Stratford-upon-Avon. His first career break came whilst playing football for Oxford United where he was spotted by a Glasgow Rangers scout in a F.A. youth club match. After completing trials he was signed by the Scottish champions at the age of 15.
- Max Adrian
Max Adrian (1 November 1903-19 January 1973) was a British stage, film and television actor. He was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He was born simply Max Bor, and is sometimes credited as Max Cavendish. He was educated at the Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, whose past pupils also included Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett. Firstly a stage actor, he began his career as a chorus boy at a silent moving-picture house, …