Tennessee Williams

Literature / Writer's Datebook: March 26

Brief biography of American playwright, novelist and poet Tennessee Williams. 

American writer Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier (Tennessee) Williams), is famous for the plays A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Glass Menagerie, among others. He is considered one of the best playwrights in the United States since the Second World War.

He wrote powerful and involved dramas that mainly deal sensitively with emotionally damaged people trying to survive in a hostile environment. He used the pieces of his stormy life to create some of the most memorable characters on the stage. 

Early Life of Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi. His family lived with his grandfather where he was brought up. When he was twelve, the family moved to St. Louis. Tennessee and his sister were not happy and did not adjust to the city life. They were made fun of for their poverty and Southern accents.

When he was 18 years old, he entered the University of Missouri, but the family's lack of funds forced Williams to leave school without graduating. He eventually earned a degree in playwriting after 9 years, when he was 27.

Career as a Playwright

Williams's first play was American Blues, produced in 1939 when he was 28. His breakthrough came with The Glass Menagerie, which ran on Broadway for over a year and won him the first of his four New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards. A Streetcar Named Desire followed, with Blanche du Bois, the star of a Southern belle, whose privileged upbringing deeply conflicted with the harsh realities of life. The play won Tennessee Williams his first Pulitzer Prize. It was made into a memorable movie, as have many of his plays, some of them blockbusters with famous stars in the starring role including Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

Last Years of Williams

    

Williams was in poor health during the 1960s, caused by a dependence on drink and sleeping pills that led to a breakdown in 1969. He struggled to overcome his addictions. He died on February 25, 1983, aged 71.

Quoted from A Streetcar Named Desire, spoken by Blanche:

"Don't you just love these long, rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn't just an hour – but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands – and who knows what to do with it?"

Quoted from a fellow playwright, Arthur Miller:

"In Tennessee Williams, American theater found, perhaps for the first time, an eloquence and an amplitude of feeling."  

Works by Tennessee Williams:

American Blues, 1939

The Glass Menagerie, 1944

Battle of Angels, 1945

A Streetcar Named Desire, 1947

Summer and Smoke, 1948

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, 1950

The Rose Tattoo, 1951

Camino Real, 1953

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1955

Suddenly Last Summer, 1958

Sweet Bird of Youth, 1959

The Night of the Iguana, 1961 


Video Credit:

Tennessee Williams. Public Domain. 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, editor. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, editor. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002

Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993

Note: This article was originally published at Suite101.com (now close), February 11, 2009.  

(c)  March 20010. Updated March 26, 2020. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.