Tennessee Williams

Williams's first theatrical success, 'The Glass Menagerie', originated from a treatment entitled "The Gentleman Caller" that he submitted to producer Arthur Freed while working as a writer at MGM in 1941. Williams had Ethel Barrymore in mind for Amanda and Judy Garland penciled in for Laura. Freed liked the story, but MGM boss Louis B. Mayer thought it wouldn't translate well to film because it did not have a happy ending.

He won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for "The Glass Menagerie." He also won two Pulitzer Prizes in Drama - for "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1947) and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1954).

Tennessee Williams met long-term partner Frank Merlo in the summer of 1948 (Merlo died of lung cancer in the fall of 1963).

Won two Tony Awards in 1951 for "The Rose Tattoo:" as Best Author (Dramatic) and as author of the Best Play winner. He was also nominated three times as author of a Best Play nominee: in 1956 for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," in 1962 for "The Night of the Iguana," and, posthumously, in 1999 for "Not About Nightingales."

Claimed he was often mistaken in public for Tennessee Ernie Ford. When his star started declining in the late 1960s, he said being mistaken for the country singer was a relief.

Though separated briefly in 1961 and again in 1962, the two were partners for 15 years. Merlo acted as his personal manager/secretary. Williams spent much of his most prolific years in Rome, Italy, and his enduring friendship with Italian stage and screen legend Anna Magnani lasted 24 years and inspired both "The Rose Tattoo" and "Orpheus Descending". Magnani realized the lead parts of these two plays, which were written for her, in their film versions. The turbulent and inspirational friendship shared between Williams and Magnani is the subject of the internationally acclaimed play "Roman Nights" by Franco D'Alessandro. Aside from his published "Memoirs", the only authorized biographical book on Williams is by Bruce Smith, entitled "Costly Performances - Tennessee Williams; The Last Stage.

His plays, "A Streetcar Named Desire," and "Suddenly Last Summer," were both nominated for the 1973 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Play Production and were both performed at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Aside from his published "Memoirs", the only authorized biographical book on Williams is by Bruce Smith, entitled "Costly Performances - Tennessee Williams; The Last Stage." This book deals with the last four years of Williams' life (1979-1983).

"Clothes for a Summer Hotel" (1980) was based on American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 882-885. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

His play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California was awarded the 1983 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Production.

Was first cousin to actress Diane Ladd and therefore first cousin once removed to her daughter, Laura Dern. This relationship is seemingly mirrored in the play The Glass Menagerie. Diane Ladd's real name is Rose Diane Lanier. Williams had a sister, also named Rose, who was the model for the character Laura in The Glass Menagerie. Their relationship is also mirrored in the film collaborations between Dern and director David Lynch. Williams's play Stairs to the Roof bears the subtitle "A prayer for the wild at heart, trapped in cages," which gave rise to the film title Wild at Heart (1990). In Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), Laura Dern plays the character Diane, who works with Cooper on "Blue Rose" files, which may be taken from Laura Wingfield's nickname, Blue Roses.

Pictured on a 32¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Literary Arts series, issued 13 October 1995.

His tragedy "A Streetcar Named Desire" performed at the Royal National Theatre: Lyttelton, was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Revival of 2002.

Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 132, pp. 415-428. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.

His play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Writers' Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, was nominated for a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Play (Large).

His play, "The Mutilated" at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago, Illnois was nominated for a 2016 Joseph Jefferson (Equity) Award for Midsize Play Production.