About
Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1897. He spent part of his childhood in China, where his father served as consul general. After studies at Oberlin, Yale, and Princeton, he published his first novel, The Cabala, in 1926. His second novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1928. He then won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama for Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), becoming the only writer to have won the prize in both categories. He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's film Shadow of a Doubt (1943). His theatrical and fictional works explore universal themes with a touch of experimentation. He died in 1975 in Hamden, Connecticut.
* 1897-04-17 — † 1975-12-07
Major works
- The Cabala (1926)novel
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927)novel
- Our Town (1938)play
- The Skin of Our Teeth (1942)play
- The Eighth Day (1967)novel
Key milestones
- 1928Wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
- 1938His play Our Town premieres on Broadway.
- 1963Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Themes
The human conditionEveryday lifeFate and chanceMortalityTheatrical experimentation
Sources: thorntonwilder.com · nationalbook.org · kennedy-center.org