An American playwright, author of many stage classics. After years of obscurity, he became suddenly famous with The Glass Menagerie (1944), closely reflecting his own unhappy family background. This heralded a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Sweet Bird of Youth. His later work attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences and alcohol and drug dependence further inhibited his creative output.

He adapted much of his best work for the cinema and also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs.