Happy 456th to The Bard.

My most vivid memory of Shakespeare is from my childhood, on a visit to his believed birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. After seeing an inscrutable rendition of The Winter’s Tale, my family sat down with the other tourists near the river for lunch. It was then that a streaker dressed as “Shakespeare” (in only a ruff and doublet) leapt over me and straight onto a passing boat, laughing hysterically with several police in pursuit. He got away, and it was the first time I ever saw a dick.

Naturally, this memory trumps all my other Shakespeare-related recollections, which are primarily the Macbeth line: “What, you egg? [he stabs him]” and musings about how Romeo and Juliet were supposedly around 13 years old. Nevertheless, the playwright’s influence is unquestionable, and his fingerprints are still all over modern film, literature, and television.

William Shakespeare was born in April of 1564, and he died in April of 1616. Today, the 23rd, is commonly celebrated as his birthday. As such, please enjoy these hot pictures of him:

Discovered in Canada in 2001, this is the so-called “Sanders Portrait,” of William Shakespeare [ . . . ]  Continue at THE CUT