Tennessee Williams

Born

June 16, 1911

Died

1983

From

Columbus, Mississippi, USA·New York City, New York, USA

Height

1.68 m (5'6")

Also:
Writer
Actor

Credits on file

Decades active

Awards

In short · Wrote for eight decades — 57 credits, 5 Pulitzer Prize For Drama wins.

Remembered for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

Recent & in release

1980
Award win
Presidential Medal Of Freedom — Presidential Medal of Freedom
1979
Award win
Kennedy Center Honors — Kennedy Center Honors
1974
Award win
St Louis Literary Award — St. Louis Literary Award
1955
Award win
Pulitzer Prize For Drama — Pulitzer Prize for Drama

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Biography

Tennessee Williams met his long-term partner Frank Merlo in the summer of 1948 (Merlo died of lung cancer in the fall of 1963). The two experienced brief separations in 1961 and 1962 but remained partners for 15 years. Merlo served as Williams' personal manager and secretary. During much of his most productive period, Williams lived in Rome, Italy, where he formed a 24-year friendship with Italian stage and screen legend Anna Magnani, a relationship that inspired the plays "The Rose Tattoo" and "Orpheus Descending." Magnani portrayed the lead roles in the film adaptations of both works, which were written specifically for her. The complex and creative friendship between Williams and Magnani is the focus of the internationally acclaimed play "Roman Nights" by Franco D'Alessandro. In addition to his published "Memoirs," the only authorized biographical book on Williams is "Costly Performances - Tennessee Williams; The Last Stage" by Bruce Smith, which covers the final four years of Williams' life (1979–1983).