Hall of fame: The greatest Shakespeareans of all time?

Ben Jonson Playwright, actor and friend of Shakespeare. Paul Edmondson: 'I like to think of them heading off into the taverns of Bankside for a good gossip about what they were working on' Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

David Garrick as Richard III Painted here by William Hogarth, Garrick was the Georgian actor-manager whose contemporaries describe mesmerising performances, including one where the entire audience recited 'To be or not to be' in chorus with him. Launched the Bard tourism industry in Stratford with his 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee, which transferred to London as a highly successful stage show. PE: 'Not just the greatest actor of his day, but the Baz Luhrmann of his day - someone who reinterpreted Shakespeare for a new audience.' Photograph: Bridgeman Art Library

Complete drafts of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist are now online Photograph: AP

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth Victorian actor and author, Henry Irving's leading lady, renowned for her beauty, wit and intelligence in Shakespearean roles; she is depicted here in a work after a painting by John Singer Sargent as one of her best, Lady Macbeth. PE: 'Audiences could could not help falling in love with her' Photograph: Bridgeman Art Library

Paul Robeson The singer, actor and socialist, a legendary black Othello in 1943. PE: 'So many black actors have made it as Othello – this place could have gone to the 19th-century actor Ira Aldridge, but Robeson wins it for making the play a political statement' Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Laurence Olivier Actor, author, director for stage and screen, founder of the National Theatre. PE: 'People will always argue whether he or Gielgud was the greater – but Larry just edges ahead for his unarguable star quality, and the number of people he brought to Shakespeare through his film work, including his classic wartime Henry V' Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

Sam Wanamaker (right, as Iago rehearsing Othello at Stratford) American director who devoted the last decades of his life to creating the replica of Shakespeare's Globe on London's Bankside. PE: 'The most heroic Shakespearean endeavour of the last 30 years and hugely influential' Photograph: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Akira Kurosawa Legendary Japanese film director, nominated for his visually astounding and emotionally wrenching Shakespeare adaptations, Throne of Blood (pictured) and Ran. PE: 'These films were total reinventions of the plays within an entirely different culture. They are part of a Japanese passion for Shakespeare, which has led to the construction of replicas in Japan of the birthplace, New Place and Anne Hathaway's cottage' Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex Features

Patrick Stewart An international superstar from the Star Trek series, now increasingly known and admired as a stage actor steadily working his way through the major Shakespeare roles, including an 'photonegative' white Othello with a black cast in Washington (pictured). PE: 'A genuinely international figure, who has gently led many of the Trekkies to Shakespeare' Photograph: Carol Rosegg/AP

Judi Dench One of the best loved British actors of the 20th century. PE: 'She has a quality of total fearlessness and honesty in everything she does. Her performances have been hugely important to the RSC at Stratford, and she stands for a whole team of people there' Photograph: Laurie Sparham/Miramax/Reuters

Kenneth Branagh Actor, director, film star, founder of his own theatre company Renaissance, director of full-text Shakespeare films including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and a Hamlet that runs at over four hours. PE: 'The greatest Shakespeare innovator since Olivier – and a great actor' Photograph: Steve Back/Rex Features

Leonardo DiCaprio Film star makes the list for youthful role as Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's gangs-and-guns musical version of the tragedy, set at Verona Beach, Florida. Still draws flocks of teenagers from all over the world to the Birthplace. PE: 'This is the name that may provoke a sharp intake of breath for some, but the film is a genuinely original and compelling look at the play, and whatever else DiCaprio does, this is a legendary and lasting achievement' Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/20 CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar/20th Century Fox