Edward Albee
| Edward Albee | |
|---|---|
 Edward Albee, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1961 | |
| Born | 12 March 1928 (age 96) Washington D.C. |
| Occupation | Dramatist |
| Nationality | American |
| Writing period | 1958 - present |
| Notable work(s) | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Zoo Story The American Dream |
| Notable award(s) | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1967,1975,1994) National Medal of Arts (1996) Special Tony Award (2005) |
| Influences | Theatre of the Absurd |
| Influenced | Paula Vogel |
Edward Franklin Albee III (IPA: [ˈɔːlbiː] "AWL-bee") (born March 12, 1928) is an American playwright best known for works, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, The Sandbox and The American Dream. His works are considered well-crafted and often unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, and Eugène Ionesco. Younger American playwrights, such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel, credit Albee's daring mix of theatricalism and biting dialogue with helping to reinvent the post-war American theatre in the early 1960s. Albee's dedication to continuing to evolve his voice — as evidenced in later productions such as The Goat: or, Who Is Sylvia? (2002) — also routinely marks him as distinct from other American playwrights of his era.
Biography
According to Magill's Survey of American Literature (2007), Edward Albee was born somewhere in Virginia (contrary to the popular belief that he was born in Washington D.C.). He was adopted two weeks later and taken to Westchester County, New York. Albee's adoptive father, Reed A. Albee—himself the son of vaudeville magnate Edward Franklin Albee II—owned several theaters, where young Edward first gained familiarity with the theatre as a child. His adoptive mother was Reed's third wife, Frances.
Albee attended the Rye Country Day School in New York, then the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, where he was expelled. He then was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1945 at the age of 17. He next enrolled in the graduate studies program at Choate prep school in Connecticut, graduating in 1946. His formal education continued at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was expelled in 1947 for skipping classes and refusing to attend compulsory chapel.
Albee left home for good when he was in his late teens, later saying in an interview: "I never felt comfortable with the adoptive parents. I don't think they knew how to be parents. I probably didn't know how to be a son, either." [1] More recently, he told interviewer Charlie Rose that he was "thrown out" because his parents wanted him to become a "corporate thug," and didn't approve of his aspirations to become a writer.[2]
The less than diligent student later dedicated much of his time to promoting American university theatre, frequently speaking at campuses and serving as a distinguished professor at the University of Houston from 1989 to 2003.
A member of the Dramatists Guild Council, Albee has received three Pulitzer Prizes for drama — for A Delicate Balance (1967), Seascape (1975), Three Tall Women (1994); a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005); the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1980); as well as the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts (both in 1996).
Albee is the President of the Edward F. Albee Foundation, Inc., which maintains the William Flanagan Creative Persons Center, a writers and artists colony in Montauk, New York. Albee's longtime partner, Jonathan Thomas, a sculptor, died on May 2, 2005, the result of a two year-long battle with bladder cancer.
In 2008, in celebration of his eightieth birthday, numerous Albee plays are being mounted in distinguished Off Broadway venues, including the historic Cherry Lane Theatre, where the playwright himself is directing two of his one-acts, The American Dream and The Sandbox, which were produced at the theater in 1961 and 1962, respectively.
Plays
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Non Dramatic Writings
- Stretching My Mind: Essays 1960-2005 (Avalon Publishing, 2005)
Quotes
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- "What could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing you hadn't lived it?"
- "A usefully lived life is probably going to be, ultimately, more satisfying." [3]
- "Writing should be useful. If it can't instruct people a little bit more about the responsibilities of consciousness there's no point in doing it."
- "If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly."
- "That's what happens in plays, yes? The shit hits the fan."
- "Creativity is magic. Don't examine it too closely." [4]
Discography
- Mark Richman & William Daniels in The Zoo Story by Edward Albee - Directed by Arthur Luce Klein (LP, Spoken Arts SA 808)
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1960 Drama Desk Award Vernon Rice Award - The Zoo Story
- 1963 Tony Award for Best Play - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - A Delicate Balance
- 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - Seascape
- 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - Three Tall Women
- 1996 National Medal of Arts
- 2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play - The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
- 2002 Tony Award for Best Play - The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
- 2005 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement
- 2008 Drama Desk Award Special Award
- Nominations
- 1964 Tony Award for Best Play - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
- 1965 Tony Award for Best Author of a Play - Tiny Alice
- 1965 Tony Award for Best Play - Tiny Alice
- 1967 Tony Award for Best Play - A Delicate Balance
- 1975 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play - Seascape
- 1975 Tony Award for Best Play - Seascape
- 1976 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 1994 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play - Three Tall Women
- 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - The Play About the Baby
- 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
- 2005 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Edward Albee Interview, Academy of Achievement, June 2, 2005
- ↑ Albee interview on The Charlie Rose Show, May 27, 2008
- ↑ Edward Albee Interview - page 6 / 6 - Academy of Achievement
- ↑ Edward Albee - Me, Myself & I - Peter and Jerry - Theater - New York Times
External links
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Edward Albee Portal |
- Edward Albee at the Internet Broadway Database
- Edward Albee at the Internet Movie Database
- Guardian (UK) in-depth profile of Albee from 2004
- Read Albee's interview at The Paris Review
- The William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center
- TonyAwards.com Interviews with Edward Albee
- Notes on a Colloquy with Edward Albee from Artslynx
- Performance by Edward Albee, and video interview by Neal Marshad with Edward Albee from LongHouse.org
- Cherry Lane Theatre website
- "The Friars Club"
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