Edward Albee, one of America’s greatest playwrights, passes at 88

The Edward Albee Society notes, with great sadness, the passing of Mr. Albee on Friday, September 16, 2016, at the age of 88.

The list of Albee’s many works, outlined in full on our Works page, includes these award winning plays: The Zoo Story (Berlin Festival Award, 1960; Obie Award, 1960; Vernon Rice Memorial Award, 1960; Drama Desk Award, 1960; Argentine Critics Circle Award, 1961); The Death of Bessie Smith (Berlin Festival Award, 1960; Best Plays of the 1960-1961 Season, Foreign Press Association, 1961); The American Dream (Best Plays of the 1960-1961 Season, Foreign Press Association, 1961; Lola D’Annunzio Award, 1961); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (New York Drama Critics Circle Award, 1962; Tony Award for Best Play, 1963; Foreign Press Association Award, 1963; Outer Circle Award, 1963; Saturday Review Drama Critics Award, 1963; Variety Drama Critics’ Poll Award, 1963; Evening Standard Award, 1964); A Delicate Balance (Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Albee’s first Pulitzer Prize, 1967); Seascape (Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Albee’s second Pulitzer Prize, 1975); The Man Who Had Three Arms (Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1989); Three Tall Women (Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Albee’s third Pulitzer Prize, 1994; New York Drama Critics Circle Award, 1994); and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, 2002; Tony Award for Best Play, 2002).

As reported by Playbill, “He was a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and president of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1980 and in 1996 received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts. In 2005 he was awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.”

Various institutions paid tribute to Albee and marked his passing, including The New York Times and Playbill. Currently, their websites provide additional memorials such as photos, links to past reviews of Albee’s plays, and a video segment from Albee’s interview with Charlie Rose.

The accomplishments and legacy of Edward Albee are remembered on our own website’s Biography page.

We will post further information as we receive it. We have lost one of the greatest of American playwrights, but we will continue to celebrate his life, his work, and his achievements.

Update 1 (9/18/16): Tributes to Edward Albee from actors, directors and writers are expected to air Sunday, Sept. 18 on both CBS’ Sunday Morning and NBC’s Today shows.

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