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ELECTED PRESIDENTS OF THE SHAKESPEARE CLUB
The tradition of having the Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon as President by virtue of the office was discontinued from 1941 when the Club chose to elect persons who were distinguished in the fields of drama and literature. Since the early 70s it has been the custom to select Presidents alternately from the worlds of scholarship and theatre.
| 1942-43 | Sir Barry Jackson, theatre director |
| 1943-44 | Robert Donat, actor |
| 1944-45 | Sir Norman Birkett, barrister, judge and politician |
| 1945-46 | Professor John Dover Wilson, academic |
| 1946-47 | Professor Allardyce Nicoll, founding Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, 1951-1961 |
| 1947-48 | Ivor Brown, academic |
| 1948-49 | Alan Dent, theatre critic |
| 1949-50 | Antony Quayle, actor and Director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1949-1956 |
| 1950-51 | John Gielgud, actor |
| 1951-52 | Professor C.J. Sisson, academic, Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham |
| 1952-53 | T.C. Kemp, theatre critic |
| 1953-54 | Peggy Ashcroft, actor |
| 1954-55 | H.V.D. (Hugo) Dyson, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1955-56 | Canon C.B. Mortlock, essayist |
| 1956-57 | Neville Coghill, academic |
| 1957-58 | Glen Byam Shaw, Director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1953-9 |
| 1958-59 | James Laver, author and art historian |
| 1959-60 | J.C. Trewin, theatre critic |
| 1960-61 | Sir Tyrone Guthrie, theatre director |
| 1961-62 | W.A. Darlington, theatre critic |
| 1962-63 | Ernest Burbridge, formerly British Council representative in Stratford |
| 1963-64 | Dr Levi Fox, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1945-1989 |
| 1964-65 | Dr Levi Fox |
| 1965-66 | Michel St. Denis, theatre director |
| 1966-67 | Gareth Lloyd Evans, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1967-68 | J.B. Butterworth, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick, 1964-1985 |
| 1968-69 | Professor T.J.B. Spencer, Professor of English and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, 1961-1979 |
| 1969-70 | Dame Veronica Wedgewood, historian |
| 1970-71 | Dr A.L. Rowse, academic |
| 1971-72 | Professor Stanley Wells, Director of the Shakespeare Institute 1988-97, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1991-2011. |
| 1972-73 | Professor Arthur C. Sprague, American academic and stage historian |
| 1973-74 | Lord David Cecil, biographer, historian and academic. |
| 1974-75 | Robert Speaight, theatre critic and historian |
| 1975-76 | The Rev. Professor Moelwyn Merchant, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1976-77 | Sir Donald Sinden, actor |
| 1977-78 | Professor Kenneth Muir, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1978-79 | George Rylands, academic and theatre director |
| 1979-80 | Richard Pasco & Barbara Leigh-Hunt, actors |
| 1980-81 | Professor Muriel Bradbrook, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1981-82 | Professor Glynne Wickham, academic and theatre historian |
| 1982-83 | Miss Fabia Drake, actor |
| 1983-84 | Professor Philip Brockbank, Director of the Shakespeare Institute1979-88. |
| 1984-85 | Judi Dench & Michael Williams, actors |
| 1985-86 | Professor Inga-Stina Ewbank, academic |
| 1986-87 | Dr Jonathan Miller, theatre director |
| 1987-88 | Professor Philip Edwards, academic |
| 1988-89 | Tony Church, actor |
| 1989-90 | Professor Harold Jenkins, academic |
| 1990-91 | Adrian Noble, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1990-2003 |
| 1991-92 | Professor Andrew Gurr, academic and theatre historian |
| 1992-93 | Barbara Jefford, actor |
| 1993-94 | Roger Pringle, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 1989-2007 |
| 1994-95 | David Brierley CBE, Manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1995-96 | Dr Rex Gibson, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1996-97 | Jane Lapotaire, actor |
| 1997-98 | Professor Jonathan Bate, academic and Shakespearean |
| 1998-99 | Guy Woolfenden, composer |
| 1999-00 | Professor R.A. Foakes, academic and Shakespearean |
| 2000-01 | Sir Nigel Hawthorne, actor |
| 2001-02 | Professor David Daniell, academic and Shakespearean |
| 2002-03 | Fiona Shaw, actor |
| 2003-04 | Dr T.P. Matheson, Fellow (1963-1993), Acting Director(1978, 1987-8) and Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute 1980-1993. |
| 2004-05 | Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal ShakespeareCompany 2012- |
| 2005-06 | Professor Russell Jackson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, 2002-4. |
| 2006-07 | Desmond Barrit, actor |
| 2007-08 | Professor Carol Chillington Rutter, academic and Shakespearean |
| 2008-09 | Alex Jennings, actor |
| 2009-10 | Patrick Spottiswoode, Director of Education, Shakespeare’s GlobeTheatre |
| 2010-11 | David Bradley, actor |
| 2011-12 | Professor Stanley Wells, CBE (see 1971-2 above) |
| 2012-13 | Michael Attenborough, theatre director |
| 2013-14 | Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, 2011-. |
| 2014-5 | Jeremy Irons, actor |
| 2015-6 | Peter Kyle, OBE, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 2011- ; formerly Chief Executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, 1999-2011. |
| 2016-7 | Sir Richard Eyre, CH, CBE, theatre, opera, television and film director, formerly Director of the National Theatre 1988-97. |
| 2017-8 | Michael Wood, Historian and documentary-maker |
| 2018-9 | Emma Rice, Theatre director and actor |
| 2019-20 | Sir Nicholas Hytner, Former Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Co-founder of The Bridge Theatre |
| 2020-21 | Sir Stanley Wells (see 2011-12 and 1971-2) |
| 2021-22 | Professor Lena Orlin |
| 2022-23 | Dame Harriet Walter, actor |
| 2023-2024 | Professor Emma Smith, academic |
The Story of the Shakespeare Club of Stratford-upon-Avon
By Susan Brock and Sylvia Morris
Website designed and maintained by Bruce McFarlane - 2023