Thornton Wilder

Thornton Niven Wilder was the second of five children born to Amos Parker Wilder, a newspaper editor and U.S. diplomat, and Isabella Niven Wilder. He spent part of his childhood with his father, who served as Consul General in Hong Kong and Shanghai from 1906 to 1914. Wilder completed high school in California, earned his undergraduate degree at Yale, and studied archeology at the American Academy in Rome. He received his M.A. in French from Princeton in 1926. Wilder published his first play, "The Trumpet Shall Sound" (1920), in the Yale Literary Magazine. His first novel, "The Cabala" (1926), drew on his experiences in Europe and referenced American expatriates around Gertrude Stein. His second novel, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 1928. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for the play "Our Town" (1938) and again for "The Skin of Our Teeth" (1943). During World War II, Wilder served in the Army Air Force, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He wrote the screenplay for *Shadow of a Doubt*, a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His farcical play "The Matchmaker" (1954) was adapted into the Broadway musical *Hello, Dolly!* in 1964 and later made into a film in 1969, starring Barbra Streisand as Dolly Levi. Wilder received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and won the 1967 National Book Award for his novel "The Eighth Day." Among his many friends were Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Montgomery Clift.