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72-536: As a playwright, Letts is known for having written for the Steppenwolf Theatre , Off-Broadway and Broadway theatre. His works include: Killer Joe , Bug , Man from Nebraska , August: Osage County , Superior Donuts , Linda Vista , and The Minutes . Letts adapted three of his plays into films, Bug and Killer Joe , both directed by William Friedkin , and August: Osage County , directed by John Wells . His 2009 play Superior Donuts

144-515: A Tony Award . Williams's work reached wider audiences in the early 1950s when The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire were adapted into motion pictures. Later plays also adapted for the screen included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , The Rose Tattoo , Orpheus Descending , The Night of the Iguana , Sweet Bird of Youth , and Summer and Smoke . After the extraordinary successes of

216-766: A nonprofit organization , saving money by taking the name of a failed theatre company that had already incorporated. In the summer of 1976, Steppenwolf took up residence in a vacant basement space of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Highland Park, Illinois and produced its first full season of plays. In 1980, the theatre company moved into a 134-seat theatre at the Jane Addams Hull House Center on Broadway Avenue in Chicago. Two years later,

288-802: A B.A. in English in August 1938. He later studied at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City. Speaking of his early days as a playwright and an early collaborative play called Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay! , Williams wrote, "The laughter ... enchanted me. Then and there the theatre and I found each other for better and for worse. I know it's the only thing that saved my life." Around 1939, he adopted Tennessee Williams as his professional name, in acknowledgement of his Southern accent and roots. Williams's writings reference some of

360-689: A Cast in a Motion Picture . In 2019, he portrayed Henry Ford II in James Mangold 's Ford v Ferrari and Mr. Dashwood in Gerwig's Little Women , the two also receiving Best Picture nominations. Letts was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma , to author Billie Letts ( née  Gipson ) and college professor and actor Dennis Letts . He has two brothers, Shawn, a musician, and Dana. Letts was raised in Durant, Oklahoma , and graduated from Durant High School in

432-502: A Good Wife Be a Good Sport?" A year later, his short story " The Vengeance of Nitocris " was published (as by "Thomas Lanier Williams") in the August 1928 issue of the magazine Weird Tales . These early publications did not lead to any significant recognition or appreciation of Williams's talent, and he would struggle for more than a decade to establish his writing career. Later, in 1928, Williams first visited Europe with his maternal grandfather Dakin. From 1929 to 1931, Williams attended

504-403: A Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, Williams attempted a new style that did not appeal as widely to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of

576-649: A Salesman . Much of Williams's most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays, and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame . Thomas Lanier Williams III was born in Columbus, Mississippi , of English, Welsh, and Huguenot ancestry, the second child of Edwina Dakin (August 9, 1884 – June 1, 1980) and Cornelius Coffin "C. C." Williams (August 21, 1879 – March 27, 1957). His father

648-422: A combination of "sweetness" and "beastliness". Because Carroll had a drug problem, as did Williams, friends including Maria Britneva saw the relationship as destructive. Williams wrote that Carroll played on his "acute loneliness" as an aging gay man. When the two men broke up in 1979, Williams called Carroll a "twerp", but they remained friends until Williams died four years later. On February 25, 1983, Williams

720-506: A long Broadway run. Elia Kazan (who directed many of Williams's greatest successes) said of Williams: "Everything in his life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life." The Glass Menagerie won the award for the best play of the season, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. The huge success of his next play, A Streetcar Named Desire , cemented his reputation as a great playwright in 1947. During

792-716: A modest house in Key West, Florida were Williams's happiest and most productive. Shortly after their breakup, Merlo was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Williams returned to him and cared for him until his death on September 20, 1963. In the years following Merlo's death, Williams descended into a period of nearly catatonic depression and increasing drug use, which resulted in several hospitalizations and commitments to mental health facilities. He submitted to injections by Dr. Max Jacobson , known popularly as Dr. Feelgood, who used increasing amounts of amphetamines to overcome his depression. Jacobson combined these with prescriptions for

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864-693: A new narrative. The show premiered at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. The show was recorded on CD and distributed by Ghostlight Records . In 2014 Williams was one of the inaugural honorees in the Rainbow Honor Walk , a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields." In 2015, The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans

936-603: A play about rebellion against religious upbringing, he became the first freshman to receive honorable mention in a writing competition. At University of Missouri, Williams joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, but he did not fit in well with his fraternity brothers. After he failed a military training course in his junior year, his father pulled him out of school and put him to work at the International Shoe Company factory. Although Williams hated

1008-500: A toxic level of Seconal . He wrote in his will in 1972: I, Thomas Lanier (Tennessee) Williams, being in sound mind upon this subject, and having declared this wish repeatedly to my close friends-do hereby state my desire to be buried at sea. More specifically, I wish to be buried at sea at as close a possible point as the American poet Hart Crane died by choice in the sea; this would be ascrnatible [sic], this geographic point, by

1080-674: A young woman. In 1943, as her behavior became increasingly disturbing, she was subjected to a lobotomy , requiring her to be institutionalised for the rest of her life. As soon as he was financially able, Williams moved Rose to a private institution just north of New York City , where he often visited her. He gave her a percentage interest in several of his most successful plays, the royalties from which were applied toward her care. The devastating effects of Rose's treatment may have contributed to Williams's alcoholism and his dependence on various combinations of amphetamines and barbiturates . After some early attempts at relationships with women, by

1152-749: Is buried. According to the New York Times , "most of his estate was left to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., with the bulk of it to remain in trust for his sister during her lifetime." Rose Williams, Tennessee's sister, died in 1996 after many years in a mental institution in New York state; the university subsequently received about $ 7 million, which supports a creative writing program. From February 1 to July 21, 2011, to commemorate

1224-560: Is known for his portrayal of Andrew Lockhart in seasons 3 and 4 of Showtime 's Homeland , and pyramid-scheme con-artist Nick on the HBO comedy Divorce . In 2017, Letts starred in three critically acclaimed films: Azazel Jacobs ' The Lovers , Greta Gerwig 's Lady Bird , and Steven Spielberg 's The Post . Lady Bird earned Letts a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by

1296-429: Is named for him. The Tennessee Williams Key West Exhibit on Truman Avenue houses rare Williams memorabilia, photographs, and pictures including his famous typewriter. At the time of his death, Williams had been working on a final play, In Masks Outrageous and Austere , which attempted to reconcile certain forces and facts of his own life. This was a continuing theme in his work. As of September 2007, author Gore Vidal

1368-763: The Philip Roth novel, Indignation , as well as the true-story crime thriller adaptation Imperium . Letts then appeared in the 2017 films The Lovers , The Post , and Lady Bird . In 2019, Letts portrayed Henry Ford II in James Mangold 's sports drama film Ford v Ferrari , and played Mr. Dashwood in Little Women , a film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott 's novel of the same name . Letts has written screenplays for three feature films based on his plays: Bug (directed by William Friedkin ), Killer Joe (also directed by Friedkin); and August: Osage County (directed by John Wells ). He also wrote

1440-683: The Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2008. Letts has also been a finalist for the Pulitzer drama prize for his plays Man from Nebraska and The Minutes ; the Pulitzer committee described The Minutes as a "shocking drama set in a seemingly mundane city council meeting that acidly articulates a uniquely American toxicity that feels both historic and contemporary." Letts starred in the Broadway production of The Minutes , his first time acting in one of his own plays. Early in his acting career, in

1512-874: The Sam Shepard play True West , starring Sinise and John Malkovich , was the first of many Steppenwolf productions to travel to New York City. In 1994, the company made its Los Angeles debut with Steve Martin 's first play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile . In 1996, after successful runs in Chicago and New York, Lyle Kessler's Orphans , directed by Gary Sinise, was the first Steppenwolf production to go international, debuting in London. The MacArthur Foundation awarded Steppenwolf Theatre Company $ 2.26 million between 1978 and 2017, in support of general operations, and growth of artistic and educational programs. In 2019, True West opened again at Steppenwolf, for

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1584-596: The U.S. Navy during World War II . This was the enduring romantic relationship of Williams's life, and it lasted 14 years until infidelities and drug abuse on both sides ended it. Merlo, who had become Williams's personal secretary, took on most of the details of their domestic life. He provided a period of happiness and stability, acting as a balance to the playwright's frequent bouts with depression. Williams feared that, like his sister Rose, he would fall into insanity. His years with Merlo, in an apartment in Manhattan and

1656-577: The University of Missouri in Columbia , where he enrolled in journalism classes. He was bored by his classes and distracted by unrequited love for a girl. Soon he began entering his poetry, essays, stories, and plays in writing contests, hoping to earn extra income. His first submitted play was Beauty Is the Word (1930), followed by Hot Milk at Three in the Morning (1932). As recognition for Beauty,

1728-563: The 100th anniversary of his birth, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the home of Williams's archive, exhibited 250 of his personal items. The exhibit, titled "Becoming Tennessee Williams", included a collection of Williams manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and artwork. The Ransom Center holds the earliest and largest collections of Williams's papers, including all of his earliest manuscripts,

1800-410: The 1940s and 1950s, he had more personal turmoil and theatrical failures in the 1960s and 1970s. Although he continued to write every day, the quality of his work suffered from his increasing alcohol and drug consumption, as well as occasional poor choices of collaborators. In 1963, his partner Frank Merlo died. Consumed by depression over the loss, and in and out of treatment facilities while under

1872-456: The 1970s, when he was in his 60s, Williams had a lengthy relationship with Robert Carroll, a Vietnam War veteran and aspiring writer in his 20s. Williams had deep affection for Carroll and respect for what he saw as the younger man's talents. Along with Williams's sister Rose, Carroll was one of the two people who received a bequest in Williams's will. Williams described Carroll's behavior as

1944-563: The 1990s through the mid 2000s, Letts acted in TV shows including Prison Break , The District , Strong Medicine , Profiler , Judging Amy , The Drew Carey Show , Seinfeld , Early Edition , and Home Improvement . In 2013–14, Letts joined the cast of Showtime 's Homeland as US Senator Andrew Lockhart. He was nominated with the rest of the cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. In 2016, Letts joined HBO 's marital comedy-drama Divorce . In 2018, Letts

2016-564: The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play. Among the theatre's many honours are the Tony Award for Regional Theatre Excellence (1985) and the National Medal of Arts (1998). 41°54′45″N 87°38′55″W  /  41.91250°N 87.64861°W  / 41.91250; -87.64861 Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams ,

2088-667: The Rockefeller funds, Williams moved to New Orleans in 1939 to write for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federally funded program of the New Deal era. Williams lived for a time in New Orleans' French Quarter , including 722 Toulouse Street, the setting of his 1977 play Vieux Carré . The building is now part of The Historic New Orleans Collection . The Rockefeller grant brought him to

2160-542: The Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago on June 28, 2007. It had its Broadway debut at the Imperial Theatre on December 4, 2007; the production transferred to Broadway 's Music Box Theatre on April 29, 2008. The Broadway show closed on June 28, 2009, after 648 performances and 18 previews. The show went on to receive seven Tony Award nominations, winning six, including Best Play . The play won Letts

2232-662: The Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival has been held annually in New Orleans, Louisiana, in commemoration of the playwright. The festival takes place at the end of March to coincide with Williams's birthday. The Tennessee Williams Songbook is a one woman show written and directed by David Kaplan, a Williams scholar and curator of Provincetown 's Tennessee Williams Festival, and starring Tony Award nominated actress Alison Fraser . The show features songs taken from plays of Williams's canon, woven together with text to create

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2304-598: The attention of the Hollywood film industry and Williams received a six-month contract as a writer from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, earning $ 250 weekly. During the winter of 1944–45, his memory play The Glass Menagerie, developed from his 1943 short story "Portrait of a Girl in Glass", was produced in Chicago and garnered good reviews. It moved to New York where it became an instant hit and enjoyed

2376-580: The company moved to a 211-seat facility at 2851 N. Halsted Street, which was their home until 1991, when construction was completed on the current theatre complex at 1650 N. Halsted Street (with administrative offices at 1700 N. Halsted Street.) The theatre has three theatres: the Downstairs Theatre that seats 515; the Upstairs Theatre that seats 299; and, the 1700 Theatre, a casual, intimate and flexible theatre that seats 80. In 1982,

2448-509: The control of his mother and brother Dakin, Williams spiraled downward. His plays Kingdom of Earth (1967), In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969), Small Craft Warnings (1973), The Two Character Play (also called Out Cry , 1973), The Red Devil Battery Sign (1976), Vieux Carré (1978), Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1980), and others were all box office failures. Negative press notices wore down his spirit. His last play, A House Not Meant to Stand,

2520-546: The country. Tracy Letts' Broadway drama August: Osage County (2007) was ranked number one in Time's Top Ten Theatre Performances of 2007. After moving from the Imperial Theatre next door to The Music Box Theatre for an open-ended run, August: Osage County won five Tony Awards including Best Play of 2007, Best Director (Anna D. Shapiro), Best Leading Actress (Deanna Dunagan), Best Featured Actress (Rondi Reed), and Best Scenic Design ( Todd Rosenthal ). Letts went on to win

2592-421: The drag." Between 1948 and 1959 Williams had seven of his plays produced on Broadway: Summer and Smoke (1948), The Rose Tattoo (1951), Camino Real (1953), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Orpheus Descending (1957), Garden District (1958), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). By 1959, he had earned two Pulitzer Prizes , three New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, three Donaldson Awards , and

2664-495: The early 1980s. He moved to Dallas , where he waited tables and worked in telemarketing while beginning his acting career. He appeared in Jerry Flemmons' O Dammit! , which was part of a new playwrights' series sponsored by Southern Methodist University . Letts moved to Chicago at the age of 20, working for the next 11 years at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Famous Door. He is still an active member of Steppenwolf. He

2736-657: The festival produced A Streetcar Named Desire . The U.S. Postal Service honored Williams on a stamp issued on October 13, 1995 as part of its literary arts series. Williams is honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame . He is also inducted into the Clarksdale Walk of Fame . On October 17, 2019, the Mississippi Writers Trail installed a historical marker commemorating William's literary contributions during his namesake festival produced by

2808-477: The first time in 37 years, with Namir Smallwood and Jon Michael Hill as the leads and the direction of Randall Arney. Steppenwolf is an ensemble cast theatre company with actors, playwrights, producers, and directors in its membership. Notable past and present ensemble members include: Notable productions include: Through its New Plays Initiative, the company maintains ongoing relationships with writers of international prominence while continuing to support

2880-475: The late 1930s, Williams began exploring his homosexuality. In New York City, he joined a gay social circle that included fellow writer and close friend Donald Windham (1920–2010) and Windham's then-boyfriend Fred Melton. In the summer of 1940, Williams initiated a relationship with Kip Kiernan (1918–1944), a young dancer he met in Provincetown, Massachusetts . When Kiernan left him to marry a woman, Williams

2952-585: The late 1930s, he worked at a string of menial jobs that included a stint as caretaker on a chicken ranch in Laguna Beach , California. In 1939, with the help of his agent Audrey Wood , Williams was awarded a $ 1,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in recognition of his play Battle of Angels . It was produced in Boston , Massachusetts in 1940 and was poorly received. Using some of

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3024-462: The late 1940s and 1950s, Williams began to travel widely with his partner Frank Merlo (1922 – September 21, 1963), often spending summers in Europe. He moved often to stimulate his writing, living in New York, New Orleans, Key West , Rome, Barcelona , and London. Williams wrote, "Only some radical change can divert the downward course of my spirit, some startling new place or people to arrest the drift,

3096-558: The mid-1930s his mother separated from his father due to his worsening alcoholism and abusive temper. They agreed to a legal separation in 1946 but never divorced. In 1936, Williams enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis where he wrote the play Me, Vashya (1937). After not winning the school's poetry prize, he decided to drop out. In the autumn of 1937, he transferred to the University of Iowa in Iowa City , where he graduated with

3168-404: The monotony, the job forced him out of the gentility of his upbringing. His dislike of his new 9-to-5 routine drove Williams to write prodigiously. He set a goal of writing one story a week. Williams often worked on weekends and late into the night. His mother recalled his intensity: Tom would go to his room with black coffee and cigarettes and I would hear the typewriter clicking away at night in

3240-610: The papers of his mother Edwina Williams, and those of his long-time agent Audrey Wood . In late 2009, Williams was inducted into the Poets' Corner at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. Performers and artists who took part in his induction included Vanessa Redgrave , playwright John Guare , Eli Wallach , Sylvia Miles , Gregory Mosher , and Ben (Griessmeyer) Berry. The Tennessee Williams Theatre in Key West, Florida,

3312-434: The poets and writers he most admired in his early years: Hart Crane , Arthur Rimbaud , Anton Chekhov , William Shakespeare , Clarence Darrow , D. H. Lawrence , Katherine Mansfield , August Strindberg , William Faulkner , Thomas Wolfe , Emily Dickinson , William Inge , James Joyce , and, according to some, Ernest Hemingway . As Williams was struggling to gain production and an audience for his work in

3384-603: The relationship. Rodríguez and Williams remained friends, however, and were in contact as late as the 1970s. Williams spent the spring and summer of 1948 in Rome in the company of a young man named "Rafaello" in Williams' Memoirs . He provided financial assistance to the younger man for several years afterward. Williams drew from this for his first novel, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone . When he returned to New York City, Williams met and fell in love with Frank Merlo (1921–1963). An occasional actor of Sicilian ancestry, he had served in

3456-629: The revival of Edward Albee 's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Booth Theatre . He received positive reviews and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play . In 2019, Letts appeared in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller 's All My Sons with Annette Bening at Roundabout Theatre Company 's American Airlines Theatre . The show officially opened on April 22, 2019 and closed on June 23, 2019. Letts has written over ten plays. His most famous, August: Osage County , premiered at

3528-509: The screenplay for the 2021 Netflix feature film The Woman in the Window , starring Amy Adams , based on the eponymous psychological thriller by A.J. Finn . Letts was an alcoholic and drug addict in his 20s, until shortly after he wrote his first play. He married actress Carrie Coon in September 2013. They have two children, born in 2018 and 2021. He has been sober since 1993. Letts

3600-486: The second. In [his] stories and in those plays, Tennessee validated with his genius our common ticket of transfer."—Biographer and critic Gore Vidal in the Introduction to Tennessee Williams: Collected Stories (1985) Since 2016, St. Louis, Missouri has held an annual Tennessee Williams Festival, featuring a main production and related events such as literary discussions and new plays inspired by his work. In 2018

3672-545: The sedative Seconal to relieve his insomnia. During this time, influenced by his brother, a Roman Catholic convert, Williams joined the Catholic Church, however he never attributed much significance to religion in his personal life. He was never truly able to recoup his earlier success, or to entirely overcome his dependence on prescription drugs. As Williams grew older, he felt increasingly alone; he feared old age and losing his sexual appeal to younger gay men. In

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3744-461: The silent house. Some mornings when I walked in to wake him for work, I would find him sprawled fully dressed across the bed, too tired to remove his clothes. Overworked, unhappy, and lacking further success with his writing, by his 24th birthday Williams had suffered a nervous breakdown and left his job. Memories of this period and of a particular factory co-worker would contribute to the character Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire . By

3816-535: The various books (biographical) upon his life and death. I wish to be sewn up in a canvas sack and dropped overboard, as stated above, as close as possible to where Hart Crane was given by himself to the great mother of life which is the sea: the Caribbean, specifically, if that fits the geography of his death. Otherwise—whereever fits it [sic]. However, his brother Dakin Williams arranged for him to be buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, where his mother

3888-553: The work of aspiring and mid-career playwrights. In 1988, Steppenwolf presented the world premiere of Frank Galati's adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath , based on the John Steinbeck novel, which eventually went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play. In 2000, Steppenwolf presented the world premiere of Austin Pendleton 's Orson's Shadow , which subsequently was staged off-Broadway and by regional theatres throughout

3960-870: Was a founding member of Bang Bang Spontaneous Theatre, whose members included Greg Kotis , Michael Shannon , Paul Dillon, and Amy Pietz . In 1991, Letts wrote the play Killer Joe . Two years later, the play premiered at the Next Lab Theater in Evanston, Illinois , followed by the 29th Street Rep in New York City . Since then, Killer Joe has been performed in a number of countries in 12 languages. His mother, Billie Letts, has said of his work, "I try to be upbeat and funny. Everybody in Tracy's stories gets naked or dead." Letts's plays have depicted people struggling with moral and spiritual questions. He says he

4032-556: Was a traveling shoe salesman who became an alcoholic and was frequently away from home. His mother, Edwina, was the daughter of Rose O. Dakin, a music teacher, and the Reverend Walter Dakin, an Episcopal priest from Illinois who was assigned to a parish in Clarksdale, Mississippi , shortly after Williams's birth. Williams lived in his grandfather's Episcopal rectory with his family for much of his early childhood and

4104-547: Was adapted into a television series of the same name . As a stage actor, Letts has performed in various classic plays with the Steppenwolf Theatre since 1988. He made his acting Broadway debut as George in the revival of Edward Albee 's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play . He continued acting on the Broadway stage in The Realistic Joneses , All My Sons , and The Minutes . In film and television, he

4176-434: Was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller , he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama. At age 33, after years of obscurity, Williams suddenly became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on

4248-588: Was cast in the second season of USA Network 's anthology crime drama series The Sinner , opposite Bill Pullman and Carrie Coon . He played Jack McKinney in HBO's 2022 series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty . Letts has starred in Adam McKay 's 2015 ensemble piece, The Big Short , 2016's Wiener-Dog , Christine , and Elvis & Nixon ; and James Schamus 's film adaptation of

4320-411: Was close to his grandparents. Among his ancestors was musician and poet Sidney Lanier . He had two siblings, older sister Rose Isabel Williams (1909–1996) and younger brother Walter Dakin Williams (1919 –2008). As a young child, Williams nearly died from a case of diphtheria that left him frail and virtually confined to his house during a year of recuperation. At least partly due to his illness, he

4392-546: Was completing the play, and Peter Bogdanovich was slated to direct its Broadway debut. The play received its world premiere in New York City in April 2012, directed by David Schweizer and starring Shirley Knight as Babe. The rectory of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Columbus, Mississippi, where Williams's grandfather Dakin was rector at the time of Williams's birth, was moved to another location in 1993 for preservation. It

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4464-545: Was considered a weak child by his father. Cornelius Williams, a descendant of East Tennessee pioneers, had a violent temper and was prone to use his fists. He regarded what he thought was his son's effeminacy with disdain. Edwina, locked in an unhappy marriage, focused her attention almost entirely on her frail young son. Critics and historians agree that Williams drew from his own dysfunctional family in much of his writing and that his desire to break free from his puritan upbringing propelled him towards writing. When Williams

4536-465: Was distraught. Kiernan's death four years later at age 26 was another heavy blow. On a 1945 visit to Taos, New Mexico , Williams met Pancho Rodríguez y González, a hotel clerk of Mexican heritage. Rodríguez was prone to jealous rages and excessive drinking, and their relationship was tempestuous. In February 1946, Rodríguez left New Mexico to join Williams in his New Orleans apartment. They lived and traveled together until late 1947, when Williams ended

4608-549: Was eight years old, his father was promoted to a job at the home office of the International Shoe Company in St. Louis . His mother's continual search for a more appropriate home, as well as his father's heavy drinking and loudly turbulent behavior, caused them to move numerous times around St. Louis. Williams attended Soldan High School , a setting he referred to in his play The Glass Menagerie . Later he studied at University City High School . At age 16, Williams won third prize for an essay published in Smart Set , titled "Can

4680-641: Was first used in 1974 at a Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield . The company presented And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little by Paul Zindel , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard , and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams , with Rick Argosh directing, and Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey , with Gary Sinise directing. The founding members are Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise. The founders recruited six additional members: H. E. Baccus, Nancy Evans, Moira Harris , John Malkovich , Laurie Metcalf , and Alan Wilder. In 1975, Steppenwolf incorporated as

4752-460: Was found dead at age 71 in his suite at the Hotel Elysée in New York City . Chief Medical Examiner of New York City Elliot M. Gross reported that Williams had choked to death from inhaling the plastic cap of a bottle of the type used on bottles of nasal spray or eye solution. The report was later corrected on August 14, 1983, to state that Williams had been using the plastic cap found in his mouth to ingest barbiturates and had actually died from

4824-405: Was founded by Co-Artistic Directors Nick Shackleford and Augustin J Correro. The New Orleans–based non-profit theatre company is the first year-round professional theatre company that focuses exclusively on the works of Williams. "[T]here used to be two streetcars in New Orleans. One was named Desire and the other was called Cemeteries . To get where you were going, you changed from the first to

4896-454: Was inspired by the plays of Tennessee Williams and the novels of William Faulkner and Jim Thompson . Letts states that he considers sounds to be effective "storytelling tools" for theater. During the late 1980s through the late 2000s, Letts acted in many of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company 's productions, starring in Steve Martin 's Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1994). In 2012, Letts gained attention for his Broadway debut performance in

4968-440: Was newly renovated in 2010 for use by the City of Columbus as the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center. Williams's literary legacy is represented by the literary agency headed by Georges Borchardt . In 1985, French author-composer Michel Berger wrote a song dedicated to Tennessee Williams, " Quelque chose de Tennessee " (Something of Tennessee), for Johnny Hallyday . It became one of the singer's more famous songs. Since 1986,

5040-512: Was once engaged to actress Sarah Paulson . Theatre awards Film and television awards Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney , Jeff Perry , and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Halsted Street. The theatre's name comes from Hermann Hesse 's novel Steppenwolf , which original member Rick Argosh

5112-420: Was produced in Chicago in 1982. Despite largely positive reviews, it ran for only 40 performances. In 1974, Williams received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. In 1979, four years before his death, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame . Throughout his life, Williams remained close to his sister, Rose, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as

5184-493: Was reading during the company's inaugural production of Paul Zindel 's play, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little , in 1974. After occupying several theatres in Chicago, in 1991, it moved into its own purpose-built complex with three performing spaces, the largest seating 550. A recipient of the Regional Tony Award , several of its productions have transferred to Broadway. The name Steppenwolf Theatre Company

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