Wed 23 Apr 2014 02.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 15 Aug 2022 11.56 EDT
John Gielgud with Judith Anderson as Gertrude. They appeared together in a Broadway production in 1936. Photograph: AP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Laurence Olivier, seated, in the 1948 film he also directed. Photograph: Universal Studios/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peter O'Toole backstage at the Old Vic in London for Hamlet in 1963. Photograph: McCabe/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Ralph Fiennes as Hamlet at the Hackney Empire in London in 2005. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
A scene from a film version of Hamlet directed by Grigori Kozintsev and starring Innokenti Smoktunovsky in 1964. Photograph: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Simon Russell Beale played Hamlet at the Lyttelton theatre in London in 2000. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
David Tennant in the RSC's production of Hamlet at the Novello theatre in London in 2008. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Samuel West as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2001. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Christopher Eccleston in Hamlet at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 2002. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Jude Law played Hamlet at Wyndham's theatre in London in 2009. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Deutsches Schauspielhaus's Hamlet starring Angela Winkler, Eva Mattes and Hermann Lause, at the Edinburgh festival in 2000. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Illustration (c1893) of English actors Ellen Terry and Henry Irving in Hamlet. Photograph: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Derek Jacobi as Hamlet and Julian Glover as the King of Denmark in Hamlet at the Old Vic in 1978. Photograph: Ken Towner/Associated Newspapers/Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Christopher Plummer and Jo Maxwell Muller in the 1964 TV adaptation of Hamlet at Elsinore. Photograph: Alamy Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Richard Briers as Hamlet at the Duthy Hall in London in 1956. Photograph: Daily Mail /Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Jonathan Slinger as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2013. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Ben Whishaw as Hamlet and Imogen Stubbs as Gertrude in Hamlet at the Old Vic in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
John Neville as Hamlet and Judi Dench as Orphelia at the Old Vic in 1957. Photograph: Associated Newspapers/Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Michael Sheen as Hamlet (left) and Benedict Wong as Laertes at the Young Vic in 2011. Photograph: Simon Annand Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Rory Kinnear played Hamlet at the Olivier theatre in London in 2010. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Toby Stephens at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
David Warner and Estelle Kohler in Peter Hall's 1965 production of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre. Photograph: Hess/Associated Newspapers /Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Adrian Lester played Hamlet in a production directed by Peter Brook at the Bouffes du Nord theatre in Paris in 2000. Photograph: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Alan Cumming in Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 1993. Photograph: Alastair Muir/Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Mark Rylance and Joanna McCallum in Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London in 2000. Photograph: Robbie Jack/Corbis Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Joshua McGuire as Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe in 2011. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
John Simm played Hamlet at the Sheffield Crucible in 2010. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Gruffudd Glyn, Dharmesh Patel as Hamlet (centre) and Dyfan Dwyfor in the RSC's Young People's Shakespeare production of Hamlet in 2010. Photograph: Hugo Glendinning /RSC Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Michael Maloney as Hamlet and Frances Tomelty as Gertrude at the Barbican in London in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Googie Withers as Gertrude and Michael Redgrave as Hamlet in a 1958 production of Hamlet in Stratford-upon-Avon. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Gina Bellman and Stephen Dillane at the Gielgud theatre in 1994. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Annabel Scholey and Jamie Ballard in a production at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol in 2008. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Steven Berkoff performs Hamlet at the Roundhouse in London in 1980. Photograph: Graham Morris/Getty Images Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Richard Chamberlain and Margaret Leighton in the 1970 TV production of Hamlet. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Vaneshran Arumugam as Hamlet (left), Nicholas Pauling and Marcel Meyer at the Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Michael Pennington and Barbara Leigh-Hunt in Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in 1980. Photograph: Reg Wilson/RSC Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Alex Jennings in Hamlet at the Barbican, London, in 1997. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Benedict Cumberbatch is set to play Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Maxine Peake is to appear as Hamlet in a reimagining of the part at Manchester's Royal Exchange in autumn 2014 Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
