Tennessee Williams

About

Historic playwright who wrote the classic plays A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, The Glass Menagerie, Sweet Bird of Youth, and Summer and Smoke. A Streetcar Named Desire was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948 and is widely considered one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Before Fame

He studied journalism at the University of Missouri and Colombia University. After falling in love with a girl who didn't return his love, he began writing poetry, essays, stories, and plays.

Trivia

A Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival takes place in March of every year to commemorate his career. The festival began in 1986, three years after his death. There is also a theatre named after him in Key West, Florida.

Family Life

He had a serious relationship with actor Phillip Merlo, but drug abuse and infidelity ended their romance. He also had a relationship with Pancho Rodríguez y González. His sister Rose, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, was his inspiration for the character Laura from The Glass Menagerie.

Associated With

He, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller are regarded as the preeminent American playwrights of the 1900's.