Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare, née Arden, (c. 1537–1608) was the mother of William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Wilmcote gentleman farmer Robert Arden, a cadet of the Arden family prominent in Warwickshire since before the Norman Conquest. She was the youngest of eight daughters, and when her father died in 1556 she inherited land at Snitterfield and Wilmcote from her father as a dowry. The house was left to her stepmother Agnes Hill. Richard Shakespeare, the father of John Shakespeare, was a tenant farmer on land owned by her father in Snitterfield. As the daughter of Richard's landlord, she
Mary Chase (playwright) Mary Chase (playwright) Mary Coyle Chase (born Mary Agnes McDonough Coyle; 25 February 1906 – 20 October 1981) was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the Broadway play "Harvey", later adapted for film starring James Stewart. She wrote fourteen plays, two children's novels, and one screenplay, and worked seven years at the "Rocky Mountain News" as a journalist. Three of her plays were made into Hollywood films: "Sorority House" (1939), "Harvey" (1950), and "Bernardine" (1957). Born Mary Agnes McDonough Coyle in Denver, Colorado in 1906, Chase remained in Denver her entire life. She grew up