Edward Albee

Date of Birth:
12 March 1928

Birth Name:
Edward Franklin Albee

Trivia:

1/92: Was arrested on a beach in Key Biscayne, FL, for indecent exposure. Charges were dropped when it was determined that he had removed his swimming trunks only to rinse out the sand that was in them, and had not done anything that could result in criminal charges.

Has won three Pulitzer Prizes for drama.

Has won two Tony Awards as author of Best Play winners: in 1963 for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and in 2002 for "Edward Albee's The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?" He has also been Tony-nominated five other times: in 1964 as author of Best Play nominee "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe;" in 1965 as Best Author (Dramatic) and as author of Best Play nominee "Tiny Alice;" and, also as author of a Best Play nominee, in 1967 for "A Delicate Balance" and in 1975 for "Seascape."

Adopted as an infant, he is the scion of one of America's most distinguished theatrical families. His paternal grandfather, E.F. Albee, was a legendary vaudeville impresario, and his father, George Sumner Albee, was a playwright and occasional screenwriter.

Served as a guest instructor in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University in the early to mid-1980s.

1996: Awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC.

His favorite actress (his muse) is Marian Seldes. She has appeared in nearly all of his performed plays and also holds the world record for most performances of the same role.

Was nominated for the 1965 Tony Award (New York City) for the Author (Drama) for "Tiny Alice".

Edward Albee won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "A Delicate Balance", the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "Seascape" and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "Three Tall Women" He was nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "The Play about the Baby" and the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?".

His play, "A Delicate Balance," at the Redtwist Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2011 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Play.

His play, "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?," at the Remy Bumppo Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2011 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Play (Midsize).

His play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," at the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for 2011 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Play (Large).

Personal Quotes:

American critics are like American universities. They both have dull and half-dead faculties.

If Attila the Hun were alive today, he'd be a drama critic.

You gotta have swine to show you where the truffles are.

[when asked why he writes] It's what I do.