Edward Albee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edward Albee
Born	Edward Franklin Albee III (1928-03-12)March 12, 1928 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	September 16, 2016(2016-09-16) (aged 88) Montauk, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Dramatist
Period	1958–2016
Notable works	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Zoo Story A Delicate Balance The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Three Tall Women
Notable awards	Pulitzer Prize for Drama Tony Award for Best Play National Medal of Arts Special Tony Award America Award in Literature
Partner	Jonathan Thomas (esp. 1971; died 2005)

Edward Franklin Albee III (born March 12, 1928 – died September 16, 2016) was a very important American playwright. He was known for many famous plays like The Zoo Story (1958), The Sandbox (1959), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), A Delicate Balance (1966), and Three Tall Women (1994).

Some people say his plays were a bit like the "Theatre of the Absurd." This means his plays showed how life can sometimes feel confusing or without a clear purpose. Edward Albee won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama three times. He also won the Tony Award for Best Play twice.

His plays often looked closely at what modern life was like. They explored feelings and relationships. His early plays showed he was very good at this style of theatre. Later, his plays looked at growing up, marriage, and how people connect. Younger playwrights have said that Albee's unique way of mixing theatre and sharp conversations helped change American theatre in the 1960s. Even later in his life, Albee kept trying new things in his plays, such as The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002).

Edward Albee's Early Life and Education

Edward Albee was born in 1928. He was adopted when he was just two weeks old. He grew up in Larchmont, New York. His adoptive father, Reed A. Albee, owned several theaters. His adoptive mother, Frances, was a socialite. Edward Albee later wrote a play called Three Tall Women (1991) that was based on his complicated relationship with his adoptive mother.

School Days and Writing Beginnings

Albee went to several schools. He attended Rye Country Day School and then the Lawrenceville School, but he was expelled from both. He also went to Valley Forge Military Academy for a short time. He finally graduated from The Choate School in 1946. Even as a teenager, he was already writing a lot. By 1946, he had written poems, short stories, essays, a play, and even a 500-page novel!

After high school, he went to Trinity College. However, he was expelled in 1947 because he often skipped classes.

Leaving Home and Becoming a Writer

Albee left home for good when he was a teenager. He later said he never felt truly comfortable with his adoptive parents. He felt they didn't know how to be parents, and he didn't know how to be a son. He also said he left because he needed to escape a "stifling" environment. In 2008, he explained that his parents wanted him to have a business career. They did not approve of his dream to become a writer.

Edward Albee's Career as a Playwright

After leaving home, Albee moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. He worked many different odd jobs while he learned to write plays. In his early plays, Albee often showed different kinds of people and relationships. He sometimes questioned traditional ideas about marriage. His plays often criticized the idea of the "American Dream."

First Plays and Big Success

His very first play was The Zoo Story. He wrote it in just three weeks. It was first performed in Berlin in 1959. Then it opened in New York in 1960. His next play, The Death of Bessie Smith, also premiered in Berlin before coming to New York.

Albee's most famous play is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. It opened on Broadway in 1962. It was a very popular and talked-about play. It won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1963. It was even chosen for the 1963 Pulitzer Prize, but the award committee decided not to give a drama award that year. This caused two jury members to resign in protest.

Later, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was made into a movie in 1966. It starred famous actors like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The film was later chosen to be kept in the United States National Film Registry. This means it was considered very important culturally and historically.

Different Periods of Albee's Work

Experts often divide Albee's plays into three main periods:

• Early Plays (1959–1966): These plays often showed characters in intense conflicts.
• Middle Plays (1971–1987): During this time, Albee's plays were often performed in regional theaters in the U.S. and in Europe.
• Later Plays (1991–2016): These plays were seen as a great comeback for Albee. They were very popular with audiences and critics.

The New York Times newspaper called Albee "the foremost American playwright of his generation." Even though he wasn't a very diligent student, Albee spent a lot of time helping university theater programs. He taught playwriting at the University of Houston.

Awards and Honors for Edward Albee

Albee in 1997

Edward Albee received many important awards for his plays. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama three times:

• For A Delicate Balance (1967)
• For Seascape (1975)
• For Three Tall Women (1994)

He was also recognized by many important groups. In 1985, he was added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame. In 1999, he received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist. He also received a Special Tony Award for his lifetime achievements in 2005. Other major honors include the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts (both in 1996).

In 2008, to celebrate Albee's 80th birthday, many of his plays were performed in New York. He even directed two of his own early plays, The American Dream and The Sandbox.

Edward Albee's Philanthropy

In 1967, Edward Albee started the Edward F. Albee Foundation, Inc.. He used money he earned from his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to create it. This foundation helps writers and artists. It provides them with a quiet place to work without distractions at the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center in Montauk, New York. This center is often called "The Barn." The foundation's goal is to give artists time and space to create their work.

Edward Albee's Later Life and Passing

Edward Albee passed away at his home in Montauk, New York, on September 16, 2016. He was 88 years old.

Albee lived in a large loft apartment in New York City. He had a huge collection of fine art, including sculptures and works from different cultures. He was especially interested in art from Africa and Oceania.

Awards and Nominations

Works

Plays

Here are some of the plays Edward Albee wrote or adapted:

Adaptations

Edward Albee also adapted other stories into plays:

Opera Libretti

He also wrote stories for operas:

• Bartleby (1961) (from a short story by Herman Melville)
• The Ice Age (1963, not finished)

Essays

• Stretching My Mind: Essays 1960–2005 (2005).

Images for kids

• 

  Edward Albee by Irish artist Reginald Gray (The New York Times, 1966).

• 

  Edward Albee, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1961.

See also

In Spanish: Edward Albee para niños