Tennessee Williams Playwright

• Gender: Male
• Citizenship: United States
• Born: Mar 26, 1911
• Died: Feb 25, 1983

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American playwright and author of many stage classics.

After years of obscurity, he became suddenly famous with The Glass Menagerie, closely reflecting his own unhappy family background. This heralded a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, and Sweet Bird of Youth. His later work attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences, and alcohol and drug dependence further inhibited his creative output.

Williams adapted much of his best work for the cinema, and also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.