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Lanford Wilson

ランふぉーど・うぃるそん

Ranfōdo Wiruson

Aliases: Lance Wilson

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1937-04-13 （Lebanon, Missouri）
Died
2011-03-24 （Wayne, New Jersey） age 73
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Unknown
Residence History
Lebanon, Missouri → Springfield, Missouri → Ozark, Missouri → San Diego, California → Chicago, Illinois → Greenwich Village, New York City → Sag Harbor, New York

Career

Occupations
playwright, librettist
Active Years
1964-2006
Affiliations
Circle Repertory Company, Caffe Cino, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
Memberships
American Theater Hall of Fame, American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Tennessee Williams
Influenced
John Malkovich
Nominations
Tony Award nominations for Best Play (3 times: Fifth of July, Talley's Folly, Angels Fall)

Education

Missouri State University
Literature
Period: 1955-1956
Country: United States
Attended as Southwest Missouri State College, left
San Diego State University
Art / Art History
Period: 1956
Country: United States
Left
University of Chicago
Playwriting
Period: 1957
Country: United States
Extension program

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1980
Work: Talley's Folly
Organization: Columbia University
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1972
Category: Drama & Performance Art
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Drama Desk Vernon Rice Award
1967
Work: The Rimers of Eldritch
Organization: Drama Desk
Result: 受賞
Obie Award
Work: Multiple works
Organization: The Village Voice
Result: 5回受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Talley's Folly

1979 Drama

A two-person play about a romance between Sally Talley and Matt Friedman despite family objections.

familylovesocial prejudice

Fifth of July

1978 Drama

Talley family decides on their Missouri farmhouse; centers on disabled Vietnam vet Ken and lover Jed.

Vietnam War aftermathgay relationshipsfamily

The Hot l Baltimore

1973 Drama

Residents of decaying hotel face eviction.

povertyhuman connections
Adaptations
  • [TV series] Hot l Baltimore (1975)

The Madness of Lady Bright

1964 One-act play

A drag queen loses his mind in isolation on a summer day.

lonelinessmadnessLGBT

Bibliography

  • See Wikipedia for complete list

Translations by Author

  • New translation of Chekhov's Three Sisters

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realistdialogue-drivenMidwestern American settings
Recurring Motifs
lonelinessfamily conflictsgay themesunderbelly of American society

Health

  • pneumonia
    2011
    Cause of death

Legacy

Pioneered off-off-Broadway movement; earthy, realist plays widely performed and admired.

Archives

  • Lanford Wilson Collection, University of Missouri Libraries

In Popular Culture

  • Plays produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, etc.

Trivia

  • Nickname 'Lance' originated from a dishwashing coworker
  • First play at Caffe Cino: So Long at the Fair (1963)