Tennessee Williams

(1911-1983)

Otherwise known as Thomas Lanier, Williams was born in rural Mississippi. He experienced serious tensions as a young man because of his homosexuality and his family's financial circumstances. For these reasons, Williams used writing as an outlet.

He wrote the autobiographical play "The Glass Menagerie," treated the theme of homosexuality in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," but "A Streetcar Named Desire" won him regard as the leading playwright of his generation.

A Reader's Guide to Twentieth Century Writers

Pub Date: 10/25/98