Acting is largely a matter of shouting in tights

Kenneth Branagh

Accepting the award he said he was "truly touched and humbled" to be recognised for his work.

Actress Harriet Walter also received an honorary doctorate at a ceremony at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Walter said she was "thrilled to bits" and despite never going to university, now had letters after her name.

'Consciousness'

Love's Labour's Lost: Branagh's musical adaptation

A university spokeswoman said Branagh had done much to bring Shakespeare into the public sphere.

"Shakespeare was always intended to be performed in the vulgar market place," she said.

"Nowadays, that would be film.

"It was never meant to be an expensive highbrow activity - that's certainly why he (Branagh) is being honoured."

Branagh himself joked about his Shakespearean activities.

"Acting is largely a matter of shouting in tights," he said.

"Shakespeare was a great psychologist as well as an entertainer," he added on a more serious note.

Branagh has directed four feature films of Shakespeare plays: Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Hamlet (1996) and Love's Labour's Lost (2000) - and he also appeared in Oliver Parker's film of Othello as Iago.