Eugene O'Neill

Profession: Playwright

Nationality:

Biography: Eugene O'Neill was the first American playwright to introduce a new realism to American theatre, influenced by such European playwrights as Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. His works were also the first to include characters on the edges of American society and to use American vernacular language in his work.

O'Neill's most important work is one of his last, the posthumously published "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1956) and like many of his plays largely autobiographical.

Born into the theatre, O'Neill's father was the famous travelling actor James O'Neill and the family travelled with him. His family history was tragic, his father was alcoholic, his mother became addicted to opium after being prescribed it after his birth. His older brother also drank himself to death. O'Neill himself also suffered from alcoholism and depression

O'Neill's first published Play "Beyond the Horizon" won the Pulitzer Prize in 1920. In all, O'Neill was awarded four Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other American dramatist. In 1936 he became first American playwright to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Born: October 16, 1888
Birthplace: NYC, New York, USA

Generation: Lost Generation
Star Sign: Libra

Died: November 27, 1953 (aged 65)
Cause of Death: Cerebellar cortical atrophy