Leeds Museum and Galleries/Flickr (cc by-nc-nd)

A statuette of William Shakespeare. Was the bard a faker?

The film “Anonymous,” which opens in theaters today, presents a version of history that William Shakespeare was a fraud and that the works attributed to him were actually written by the Elizabethan aristocrat Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.

Patt fact-checks the film with a Shakespearean scholar and gets an update on the debate over Shakespeare’s authorship — a debate that’s roiled actors like Jeremy Irons but still managed to catch the attention of great minds like Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.

WEIGH IN:

Who was the man and what does the evidence support?

Guest:

Arthur Horowitz, chair, Department of Theater and Dance, Claremont colleges

Earl Showerman, president, the Shakespeare Fellowship