12 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About William Shakespeare

3. He Was A Writer By Trade... But First And Foremost He Was A Businessman And An Actor

Shakespeare may be arguably Britain's greatest-ever playwright - but he was actually known in the early-1600s as a businessman with a substantial property portfolio. In his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare acquired a number of properties at the turn of the 17th Century that he rented out and earned a significant income from. Interestingly, Shakespeare's profession on official documentation in London was also registered as an "actor" - due to the fact he performed in other writers' plays as part of groups such as the Chamberlain's Men, and even in his own dramas. It is rumoured that Shakespeare himself even played the ghost in "Hamlet" and "King Duncan" in "Macbeth".