About William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English poet and dramatist of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean period, is the most widely known author in all of English literature and often considered the greatest. He was an active member of a theater company for at least twenty years, during which time he wrote many great plays. Plays were not prized as literature at the time and Shakespeare was not widely read until the middle of the eighteenth century, when a great upsurge of interest in his works began that continues today.
About John Gielgud
Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000) is arguably the greatest
Shakespearean actor of the twentieth century and one of the best overall actors
of his generation. His theatrical career spanned more than sixty years,
beginning with a role in the London production of The Constant Nymph and ending with Sir Sydney Cockerell: The Best of Friends in 1988. His film career
spanned more than seventy years and saw him in such roles as the Pope in Elizabeth, Priam in Hamlet, Professor of Sunlight in Gulliver’s Travels, and Master of Trinity in Chariots of Fire.