Biographical Information Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911. He was the second son of Edwina and Cornelius Coffin Williams. His father was a shoe salesman who spent most of his time away from home. Edwina was a “Southern belle,” she was snobbish, and her behavior was neurotic. As a child, Williams suffered from diphtheria which nearly ended his life. Williams attended Soldan High School, an environment he referenced in The Glass Menagerie. Subsequently, he attended University City High School. He then attended the University of Missouri. (Tennessee) In the late 1930s the young playwright struggled to have his work accepted. During the winter of 1944-1945, his "memoir" The Glass Menagerie was successfully produced in Chicago to good reviews. It moved to New York where it became an immediate and huge success during its long run on Broadway. Between 1948 and 1959, seven of his plays were performed on Broadway: Summer and Smoke (1948), The Rose Tattoo (1951), Camino Real (1953), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Orpheus Descending (1957 ), Garden District (1958) and The Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). By 1959 he had won two Pulitzer Prizes, three New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, three Donaldson Awards and a Tony Award. On February 25, 1983, Williams was found dead in his room at the Elysee Hotel in New York at the age of 71. According to the medical examiner, Williams died by choking on the cap of a bottle of eye drops he was using. Drug use was said to suppress the gag reflex. Detective and forensic expert Michael Baden reviewed medical records regarding Williams' death and said the findings showed Williams died of a drug and alcohol overdose, not suffocation. (Tennessee)Historical information......middle of paper......Works CitedBloom, Harold, Frank Durham, and Nancy M. Tishcler. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2007. Google Books. Web."Saying things as they are not." Review of “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams: The New Yorker. Review of “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams: The New Yorker, ndWeb.12January2014.http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2010/04/05/100405crth_theatre_lahr?currentPage=1.Debusscher, Gilbert . “The Dramatic Farce of Tennessee Williams: Gilbert Debusscher.” The Dramatic Charade of Tennessee Williams - Gilbert Debusscher. np and nd Web. January 12, 2014. http://www.tennesseewilliamsstudies.org/archives/2000/4debusscher.htm."Tennessee Lanier Williams." 2014. The Biography Channel website. January 22, 2014, 7:15 am http://www.biography.com/people/tennessee-williams-9532952.