US playwright. He is widely regarded as the greatest US dramatist. His plays, although tragic, are characterized by a down-to-earth quality and are often experimental in form, influenced by German expressionism, Strindberg, and Freud. They were a radical departure from the romantic and melodramatic American theatre entertainments. They include
Beyond the Horizon (1920) and
Anna Christie (1921), both of which won a Pulitzer Prize, as well as
The Emperor Jones (1920),
The Hairy Ape (1922),
Desire Under the Elms (1924),
The Iceman Cometh (1946), and the posthumously produced autobiographical drama
A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956; written 1941), also a Pulitzer prizewinner. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.
© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.