Tennesse Williams

Background Information
Thomas Lanier Williams
Born on the 26 March 1911, Columbus Mississippi
His father descended from pioneer Tennessee Stock, hence Williams
adopted first name.
Diagnosed with Diphtheria aged 5 and nearly died.
It also caused his legs to be paralysed for 2 years so was encouraged to write
by his mother.
Had one sister, Rose, who he was very close to. Rose was institutionalised and
eventually incapacitated due to a lobotomy.
Wrote his first play Cairo, Shanghai, Bombay! as a teenager
Met his long term partner Frank Merlo in 1948 who passed away with lung
cancer in 1963
Suffered from depression, alcoholism and addiction to prescription drugs later
in his life
Was briefly institutionalised in 1969
Died on 25th February 1986 after he choked on the lid of an eye drop bottle in
his hotel room.
Due to his illness he was not as strong as his father (Cornelius Coffin) would
have liked.
His mother Edwina was trapped in the unhappy marriage and focused and was
thus over protective of Williams as she focused all her attention on him
Father was a violent man who suffered from alcohol issues and was a strong
gambler
Williams was seen as weak and disdained by his father
Early Life
Attended the University of Missouri
His father didnt approve of him wanting to be an author and made him
leave after his 1st year and become a shoe maker
The only thing he wanted to do was to be a writer as it offered and escape
from the real world and thus became sleep deprived leading to him having
a nervous breakdown and a heart condition
His father eventually agreed to let him go to the University of Washington
were he got some of his papers published but didnt win the writing
contest so decided to quit
He then went to the University of Iowa were his nickname was
Tennessee which he decided to keep
Due to their Southern speech and manners and also background of poverty
Williams and his older sister Rose were teased by their class mates
Career
In the late 1930s as a young playwright Williams struggled to have his work
accepted.
In 1939 he was awarded the Rockefeller Prize and received a $1000 grant

During the winter of 1944-45 his memory play The Glass Menagerie told the
story of a young man, Tom, his disabled sister, Laura and their controlling
mother Amanda.
It is said that Williams used his own familial relationships as inspiration for
the play thus being his inspiration for the play
The director of many of Williams plays stated of Williams that: Everything
in his life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life.
In the 1960/70s, although Williams continued to write every day, the quality
of his work suffered from his high levels of alcohol and drug consumption as
well as many poor choices of collaborators

Personal Life
Williams sister, Rose, was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young adult and
later institutionalised following a lobotomy
Williams continued to visit her in the facilities where she spent most of her
adult life
The effects of Roses illness contributed to his alcoholism and his dependence
on various prescription drugs
After various attempts at heterosexual relationships, by the late 1930s
Williams had finally accepted his homosexuality and was the first openly gay
playwright of his time
In the summer of 1940 Williams entered an affair with Kip Kiernan, a
Canadian dancer
When Kiernan left him for a woman and marriage
Williams was distraught and Kiernans death later at 26 was another blow
In a visit to New Mexico in 1945, Williams met Rodriguez y Gonzales
Rodriguez was loving and loyal but also prone to jealous rages and excessive
rages, so the relationship was emotionally turbulent
The pair travelled and lived together until 1947 when Williams ended the
affair, the two remained friends
Williams spent the spring and summer of 1948 in Rome with a teenage Italian
boy to whom he provided financial assistance for several years
On returning to New York that year, he met and fell in love with Frank Phillip
Merlo, an occasional actor of Sicilian heritage who had served in the U.S.
Navy in WWII
The relationship ended 14 years later from various infidelities and drug abused
from both sides
Merlo became Williams personal secretary and provided happiness and
stability and also balance to Williams frequent bouts with depression and the
fear that like his sister he would succumb to insanity
Shortly after their breakup Merlo was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and
Williams cared for him until his death in September 1963
Following Merlos death Williams was plunged into a period of severe
depression and increasing drug use resulting in several hospitalisations and
commitments to mental health facilities

Death
Williams died on February 25, 1983 aged 71
He died due to choking on the lid of the cap from an eye drops bottle
This indicated that his use of drugs and alcohol may have contributed to his
death by suppressing his gag reflex
Influences
His sisters illness had a huge contribution to his work, which can be seen by
Blanch DuBois in a Street Car Named Desire
Williams father violence and alcoholism also was a major influence
His summer with the teenage Italian boy provided him with the inspiration for
his first novel The Roman Spring of Mrs.Stone
In reference to the quote mentioned in the section on Williams career
anything and everything important in his life was seemingly transferred into
Williams plays