Edward Albee

On this date in 1928, playwright Edward Albee was born in the District of Columbia, and grew up in Larchmont, New York, in the home of his wealthy, adoptive family. The rebellious teenager was reputedly dismissed from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., because he failed to attend chapel. At 20, Albee moved to New York's Greenwich Village, where he took odd jobs, such as being a messenger for Western Union, while writing. His first breakthrough play, "The Zoo Story" (1959), belonging to the theater of the absurd, was originally produced in Germany. Albee has been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes, for his plays "A Delicate Balance" (1966), "Seascape" (1975) and "Three Tall Women" (1994), as well as winning the Tony and Obie awards. He told Warren Allen Smith, editor of Who's Who in Hell, that he is a "nominal Quaker" because he admires their pacifism, but does not accept "all that divinity stuff" ( Dec. 10, 1996).