About
Eugene O'Neill, born in New York in 1888, is considered America's first major playwright. Son of an Irish actor, he led an adventurous life before turning to theater. After tuberculosis in 1912, he wrote his first plays. He won four Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936, a first for an American playwright. His works, such as 'Long Day's Journey into Night', explore the margins of society with innovative realism. He died in Boston in 1953.
* 1888-10-16 — † 1953-11-27
Major works
- Bound East for Cardiff (1916)play
- Beyond the Horizon (1920)play
- Anna Christie (1922)play
- The Iceman Cometh (1946)play
- Long Day's Journey into Night (1956)play
Key milestones
- 1936Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the only American playwright to receive it.
- 1920Wins his first Pulitzer Prize for 'Beyond the Horizon'.
- 1956Posthumous premiere of 'Long Day's Journey into Night', his masterpiece.
Themes
Family tragedySocial marginalityIllusion and disillusionmentFate and fatalityAmerican vernacular
Sources: nobelprize.org · britannica.com · concordtheatricals.com
