1911 |
March 26 |
Thomas Lanier Williams is born in Columbus, Mississippi. |
1927 |
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Williams gets his first taste of literary fame, placing third in a national essay contest sponsored by The Smart Set magazine. |
1929 |
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He is admitted to the University of Missouri where he sees a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and decides to become a playwright. |
1931 |
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His father forces him to withdraw from school and work in a St. Louis shoe factory where he meets a young man named Stanley Kowalski who will later resurface as a character in A Streetcar Named Desire. |
1937 |
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Two of his plays, Candles to the Sun and The Fugitive Kind, are produced by Mummers of St. Louis. |
1938 |
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Williams graduates from the University of Iowa with a bachelor of arts degree. |
1939 |
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He moves to New Orleans and changes his name from "Tom" to "Tennessee" which was the state of his father's birth. |
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He receives a $1,000 Rockefeller Grant. |
1943 |
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A prefrontal lobotomy is performed on Williams' sister Rose who had long suffered from mental illness. The operation, however, is a failure and leaves Rose incapacitated for the remainder of her life. Tennessee never forgives his parents for allowing the operation. |
1944 |
December 26 |
The Glass Menagerie premieres at the Lyric Theatre in Chicago and enjoys a successful run. |
1945 |
March 31 |
The Glass Menagerie moves to the Playhouse Theatre on Broadway, earning Williams the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best play of the season. |
1947 |
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Williams meets and falls in love with Frank Merlo. |
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December 3 |
A Streetcar Named Desire opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway, earning Williams his first Pulitzer Prize and establishing him as one of the top dramatists of the American theatre. |
1948 |
October 6 |
Summer and Smoke opens at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. |
1951 |
February 3 |
The Rose Tatoo opens at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway, earning Williams a Tony Award for Best Play. |
1953 |
March 17 |
Camino Real opens at the National Theatre on Broadway. |
1955 |
March 24 |
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway, earning Williams his second Pulitzer Prize as well as another Tony Award for Best Play. |
1956 |
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Williams writes the screenplay for Baby Doll, a movie that Time magazine calls "just possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited." |
1957 |
March 21 |
Orpheus Descending opens at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway. |
1959 |
March 10 |
Sweet Bird of Youth opens at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway. |
1960 |
November 10 |
Period of Adjustment opens at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. |
1961 |
December 28 |
The Night of the Iguana opens at the Royale Theatre on Broadway, earning Williams another Tony Award for Best Play. |
1963 |
January 16 |
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore opens at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway. |
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His partner, Frank Merlo, dies of lung cancer and Williams falls into a deep depression that will last for a decade. |
1968 |
March 27 |
The Seven Descents of Myrtle opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. It closes after only 29 performances. |
1973 |
March 1 |
Out Cry opens at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. It closes after only 12 performances. |
1976 |
November 23 |
The Eccentricities of a Nightingale opens at the Morosco Theatre on Broadway. It closes after only 24 performances. |
1977 |
May 11 |
Vieux Carré opens at the St. James Theatre on Broadway. It closes after only 6 performances. |
1980 |
March 26 |
Clothes for a Summer Hotel opens at the Cort Theatre on Broadway. It closes after only 14 performances. |
1983 |
February 24 |
Tennessee Williams dies in his New York City residence at the Hotel Elysee. According to official reports, he choked to death on a bottle cap. He is buried in St. Louis, Missouri. |
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