How old was William Shakespeare when he died?

William Shakespeare's death occured on 23rd April 1616, when he was just fifty two years old. These days that seems pretty young to us, but in those times when mortality was much higher, he didn't do too badly! It seems that, as a successful author and playwright, he enjoyed a fairly comfortable old age as a prosperous man of wealth. We don't know much about his old age, or even his death, burial and funeral service, and indeed there has been some speculation in the past about why this should be so. Some sceptics wonder why there was not more publicity about Shakespeare's death - considering his supposed fame.

Towards the end of his life he wrote works known as 'The Romances (after1608) for example 'The Tempest'.

We can be pretty sure he lived  five years at the close of his life in Stratford and was buried in the church there (Holy Trinity) in Stratford. His 'First Folio' got published in 1623 and was the first time his works were collected together.