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Stanley Wells

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Sir
Stanley Wells
CBE
Wells in 2012
Born(1930-05-21)21 May 1930(age 94)
Stratford-upon-Avon,England
EducationKingston High School
Alma materUniversity College London;
Birmingham University
Occupation(s)Shakespearean scholar, writer, professor and editor
Known forEditor of theOxford ShakespeareandNew Penguin Shakespeare
Spouse(s)Susan Hill,separated 2011
AwardsSam Wanamaker Award

Sir Stanley William Wells,CBE(born 21 May 1930) is an English Shakespearean scholar, writer, professor and editor who has been honorary president of theShakespeare Birthplace Trust,professor emeritus atBirmingham University,and author of many books about Shakespeare, includingShakespeare Sex and Love,and is general editor of theOxford ShakespeareandNew Penguin Shakespeareseries. He lives inStratford-upon-Avonand was educated in English atUniversity College London(UCL).

Biography[edit]

Wells was born inHull,the son of Stanley Cecil WellsMBEand Doris Wells.[1][2]His father was a bus company traffic manager.[3]Wells was educated at theKingston High Schoolgrammar schoolin Hull.[2]Wells took a degree in English atUniversity College,London. He was invalided out ofnational servicefor the RAF in 1951.[4]He became aHampshireschool teacher before moving to Stratford to complete his PhD. He was awarded his PhD in English byBirmingham Universityin 1961.[5]

He was Professor of Shakespeare Studies and director of theShakespeare Institute(University of Birmingham) 1988–1997, and is now emeritus professor of Shakespeare Studies.

Wells is co-editor (withGary Taylor,John Jowett and William Montgomery) of theOxfordComplete Works and (with Michael Dobson) theOxford Companion to Shakespeare,and has been general editor of theOxford Shakespeareseries since 1978.[6]He edited several volumes for theNew Penguin Shakespeareseries.[7]

In 2009, Wells revealed the existence of theCobbe portrait.He stated his belief, based on three years of research, that the portrait is a trueportrait of Shakespeare,painted from life.

On 20 October 2009, Wells appeared onBBC 4's comedy panel showIt's Only a Theory– defending the prevailing opinion within contemporary Shakespeare studies that "The plays of William Shakespeare were written by William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon" and debunking the theory that Shakespeare's plays were written by some of his contemporaries.

In June 2010, Wells was awarded theSam Wanamaker AwardbyShakespeare's Globe,an award given annually in the name of the Globe's founderSam Wanamakerto celebrate work which has increased the understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare.

In 2013, together with Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson, he called upon the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey to remove the question mark which appears in place of a date of death in the memorial window toChristopher MarloweinPoets' CornerinWestminster Abbey.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Wells remains married to novelistSusan Hill,though separated in 2011,[9]and the couple was once considered part of the "Gloucestershire mafia" set of well-connected writers and socialites.[10]He is the father of author Jessica Ruston and of Clemency Wells. Imogen, Hill and Wells' second-born child, died in infancy.[10]

Honours[edit]

Wells was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE) in the2007 Birthday Honoursfor services to literature.[11]He wasknightedin the2016 Birthday Honoursfor services to scholarship.[12]

Wells was awarded an honoraryDLittby theUniversity of Warwickin 2008.

In 2016, he was awarded thePresident's Medalby theBritish Academy"for his lifetime service to the study, knowledge and enjoyment of William Shakespeare".[13]

Commonwealth honours[edit]

Country Date Appointment Post-nominal letters
United Kingdom 2007 Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE
2016 Knight Bachelor Kt

Scholastic[edit]

Honorary degrees
Location Date School Degree Gave Commencement Address
England 2008 University of Warwick Doctor of Letters(D.Litt.)[14]

Awards[edit]

Location Date Institution Award
England June 2010 Shakespeare's Globe Sam Wanamaker Award
United Kingdom 2016 British Academy President's Medal

Major publications[edit]

  • Re-Editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader(1984)
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Shakespeare(1998)
  • Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism(2000)
  • Shakespeare: The Poet and his Plays(2001)
  • The Oxford Shakespeare:King Lear(2001)
  • Shakespeare For All Time(2002)[15]
  • The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works(with Gary Taylor, 1986, 2005)
  • Shakespeare & Co.(2006)
  • Shakespeare, Sex, and Love(2010)
  • Shakespeare Beyond Doubt(editor with Paul Edmondson, 2013)
  • Great Shakespearean Actors(2015)
  • The Shakespeare Circle(editor, 2016)
  • All the Sonnets of Shakespeare(with Paul Edmondson, 2020)

References[edit]

  1. ^"About Stanley Wells".Archived fromthe originalon 20 September 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
  2. ^ab"WELLS, Prof. Stanley William",Who's Who 2012,A & C Black, 2012; online edn,Oxford University Press,Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 2011accessed 11 Sept 2012
  3. ^Reyburn, Ross."The Saturday Interview: Professor Stanley Wells – He's a Dedicated Bard Brain of Britain"inThe Birmingham Post(England), 23 November 2002.
  4. ^Kidd, Charles, ed."Prof Stanley Wells, CBE Authorised Biography"Archived8 February 2013 at theWayback Machine,Debrett's People of Today.
  5. ^"Old Joe"(PDF).birmingham.ac.uk.2016.Retrieved22 October2020.
  6. ^"Grammar, Style, and Usage".Writing Explained.Archived fromthe originalon 15 December 2010.
  7. ^Sir Stanley Wells-Shakespeare Birthplace Trustwebsite
  8. ^Edmondson, Paul, and Stanley Wells,Shakespeare Bites Back(2011), Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, pp. 21–2, 38.
  9. ^Kean, Danuta (4 March 2017)."Susan Hill: 'I am not pro-Trump! Really? Do people think that of me?'".The Guardian.Retrieved24 January2018.Six years ago
  10. ^abEden, Richard (8 December 2013)."Husband of The Woman in Black author Susan Hill exits, stage left".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved24 January2018.
  11. ^"No. 58358".The London Gazette(Supplement). 16 June 2007. p. 9.
  12. ^"No. 61608".The London Gazette(Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B2.
  13. ^"British Academy announces 2016 prizes and medal winners".The British Academy.27 September 2016.Retrieved24 July2017.
  14. ^"List of all Honorary Graduates and Chancellor's Medallists".
  15. ^Holden, Anthony."All Wells End Well",review ofShakespeare For All Time.The Guardian,1 December 2002.
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