Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (135 page)
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Authors: John Lahr
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BOOK: Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
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cancer fears of, 106, 111, 114, 283, 455
Catholic conversion of, 491, 704
n
childhood of, 34–36,
37
,
38
,
57
coming-out of, 521, 545
competitiveness of, 311, 315, 442–43
creative exhaustion feared by, 171–73, 197, 254–55, 282, 283, 285, 375, 390–91, 395, 415, 439, 442–43, 472–73, 490, 496, 508, 520
as creator of new dramatic style, 65–67
on critics, 686
n
“death act” of, 554–55
death of, 582, 586–88
depressions of, 153, 170, 174, 281, 284–85, 349, 372, 373–74, 472–74, 482–85, 490–91, 494–97, 506, 508
diaries and notebooks of, xiii, 11, 20–21, 29, 31, 48, 55, 57, 65, 68, 78–79, 80, 82, 88, 92, 114, 115, 139, 175, 180–81, 183, 201, 214, 240, 246, 261, 271, 279, 280, 283, 284–85, 303, 324–25, 329, 345, 349, 354, 361, 365, 366, 588, 621
n
divided self of, 35, 99, 148–49, 311, 443, 533, 563, 601, 636
drama as chosen genre of, 34, 621
n
drinking by, 225, 236, 279–80, 282, 285, 289, 324, 346, 349, 390, 447, 473, 494, 511, 568–69
emotional neediness of, 81, 88, 375, 377, 601
fame of, 66–67, 149–50, 151–52, 155, 172, 375, 377
finances of, 71
first homosexual experience of, 80
as “ghost,” 554, 555, 625
n
, 714
n
, 715
n
guilt felt by, 96, 357, 365, 366, 367–68, 379–80, 401, 458, 544, 564
heterosexual experience of, 79
homophobic attacks on, 534
homosexuality of, 79, 82–83, 521, 532–34
last days of, 583–86
loneliness of, 80–81, 120–21, 139, 236, 283, 311, 420
and loss of audience, 475, 477, 482, 496, 545
love associated with loss by, 282–83
memoir of,
see
Memoirs
(Williams)
mental breakdowns of, 56–57, 474
morbid shyness of, 54–55, 82, 92, 169, 631
n
as outcast, 221, 223–25, 242, 254
paintings by, 278, 571,
572
paranoia of, 345, 379–80, 388, 406, 417, 431, 495–96, 497, 512, 515, 517–18, 520, 557, 585
physical illnesses of, 56, 81, 105–6, 114, 279, 282–83, 284, 572, 633
n
, 669
n
plays as emotional biographies of, xiv, 33, 208–9, 254, 255, 263, 269, 631
n
–32
n
prescription drug abuse by, 236, 279–80, 285, 314, 324, 349, 396, 420, 431–32, 447, 474, 478, 496, 501, 502, 507, 509, 510–11, 585, 587, 588, 704
n
psychoanalysis of, 345, 346–47, 348–56, 369, 370, 371, 372–73, 375, 377, 378, 395, 402, 474, 494, 684
n
in quest for redemption through art, 19–20, 29, 60, 66, 96–97, 183, 332–33, 376, 446, 564, 602
in reconnection with outside world, 521
Rockefeller Fellowship of, 366
Romanticism of, 29, 66
as self-described monster, 377
self-envy of, 490, 520
self-invention of, 65–66
self-loathing of, 236, 285, 311, 330, 377, 378, 415, 485–86, 554
senescence of, 534–35, 580
sensuality linked with impurity by, 54, 74
sexuality/creativity conundrum of, 99, 119, 636
n
sexually repressed youth of, 19, 54, 77, 78
sexual promiscuity of, 30, 71, 76, 78, 82, 83–89, 94–95, 153–54, 244
sexual theology of, 96, 99
Shubert Theatre memorial for, 588–89
sixties depression (“Stoned Age”) of, 477, 482–85, 490–91, 494–97, 506, 508, 514
spiritual and emotional exhaustion of, 329–30, 376, 377, 394–95, 397, 446, 482–84, 528
and struggle between creativity and self-destruction, 285, 443–44, 488–89, 564
“Tennessee” chosen as first name by, 18
two funerals of, 589–90, 591
will of, 528, 590–92, 593–94
writing habits of, 33–34, 35, 640
n
writing as escape from family for, 58–59
writing as self-cannibalization of, 288–89, 329–30, 371, 376, 377–78, 395, 415, 438, 447, 485–86, 564, 571, 601–2
writing as survival tactic for, 547
Williams, Thomas Lanier, II, 38, 40
Williams College, 243
Williams Estate:
author first contacted by, 14
New Yorker
profile on shenanigans of, 15, 601
see also
Rose Williams Trust
Williams family:
background of, 38–39, 49
as prototypes of TW’s characters, 35
Will Mr. Merriweather Return from Memphis?
(Williams), 506
Wilson, Earl, 567
Winchell, Walter, 222, 275–76
Windham, Donald, 14, 278, 288, 636
n
and Pancho’s jealousy, 112–13
and publication of TW’s letters, 546–57, 714
n
TW’s letters to, xiii, 11, 31–32, 48, 86, 90–91, 95, 100, 104, 105, 106, 125, 133, 150, 154, 176, 367
TW’s relationship with, 1, 62, 669
n
on TW’s sexual promiscuity, 84–85, 87
You Touched Me!
and, 1, 714
n
Winemiller, Alma (char.), 73–74, 79, 81, 82, 95, 97,
98
, 99, 101, 103, 120, 122, 385
Wingfield, Amanda (char.), 5, 8,
10
, 32–33, 51–53, 55, 578
Edwina as model for, 156–57, 355–56, 627
n
Taylor on, 7
Wingfield, Laura (char.), 8,
10
, 52, 54, 55, 59–60
Rose as model for, 54, 367–69
Wingfield, Tom/Narrator (char.), 2–3,
7
, 12, 32, 52, 59–60, 65, 73, 88, 368–69, 578
“Wingfields of America, The” (Williams), 39–40
Winters, Shelley, 437–38, 694
n
Wood, Audrey,
3
, 235, 343, 400, 406, 482, 485, 492, 497, 509,
510
on
Battle of Angels
fiasco, 23, 26
Camino Real
and, 258
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
and, 284, 285, 290–91, 294, 296, 302, 310–11, 312–13
and Dakin’s power of attorney, 517–18
Glass Menagerie
and, 1–2, 4, 12–13, 33, 62, 111–12, 187–88
and Liebling’s death, 516–17
Merlo and, 452–53
Night of the Iguana
and, 417, 433
Orpheus Descending
and, 281, 289–90, 330
Out Cry
and, 511–12, 514, 515, 517
and Pancho’s relationship with TW, 110, 111, 112, 125, 169, 639
n
, 640
n
Rose Tattoo
and, 176, 193, 195–96, 198, 201–2, 203, 217–18
Selznick and, 126–28, 656
n
Streetcar
and, 124–25, 134, 136, 137–38, 184–85
stroke of, 571
Summer and Smoke
and, 114, 115, 116, 124, 125, 162–63
Sweet Bird of Youth
and, 386, 399
as TW’s agent, 2, 16, 30, 74, 111, 468–70, 516, 519–20, 570, 582, 599, 619
n
, 639
n
, 640
n
, 708
n
TW’s break with, 512–13, 518, 519–20, 571, 709
n
TW’s correspondence with, 2, 29–30, 49, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75, 95, 105, 109, 114, 133, 134, 137–38, 155, 156, 158, 162–63, 173, 176, 195–96, 201–2, 203, 211, 217–18, 235–36, 237, 245, 252, 299, 302, 315, 322, 325–26, 337, 350, 373–74, 381–82, 395, 412, 415–16, 419–21, 425, 429, 460, 466, 467, 468–70, 502, 506, 507–8, 514, 518, 619
n
, 621
n
, 623
n
, 625
n
, 630
n
, 656
n
, 684
n
, 692
n
, 707
n
TW’s duplicity toward, 516–17
TW’s paranoia about, 512, 515, 517–18, 520
TW’s talent recognized by, 2
Wood, William, 2
World War II, 475
Merlo in, 165–66
TW and, 30–31
V-E day in, 64
Yale Drama School, 243, 262
Yeats, William Butler, 443
York, Michael, 539
“You and I” (Williams), 346
Young, Stark, 32–33, 61–62, 64
You Touched Me!
(Williams and Windham), 1, 68, 75–77,
76
, 86, 714
n
Zeffirelli, Franco, 539–40
Zelda
(Mitford), 561
ALSO BY JOHN LAHR
Biography
Honky Tonk Parade: New Yorker Profiles of Show People
The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan
(editor)
(editor)
Show and Tell: New Yorker Profiles
Sinatra: The Artist and the Man
Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilisation:
Backstage with Barry Humphries
The Orton Diaries
(editor)
(editor)
Coward the Playwright
Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton
Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr
Criticism
Light Fantastic: Adventures in Theatre
Life-Show: How to See Theater in Life and Life in Theater
(with Jonathan Price)
(with Jonathan Price)
Astonish Me: Adventures in Contemporary Theater
Acting-Out America: Essays on Modern Theatre
Up Against the Fourth Wall: Essays on Modern Theater
A Casebook on Harold Pinter’s
The Homecoming (edited with Anthea Lahr)
The Homecoming (edited with Anthea Lahr)
Novels
Hot to Trot
The Autograph Hound
Plays
Elaine Stritch at Liberty
(with Elaine Stritch)
(with Elaine Stritch)
The Manchurian Candidate
(adaptation)
(adaptation)
The Bluebird of Unhappiness: A Woody Allen Revue
(adaptation)
(adaptation)
Diary of a Somebody
(adaptation)
(adaptation)
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
(adaptation)
(adaptation)
Copyright © 2014 by John Lahr
All rights reserved
First Edition
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Lahr, John, 1941– author.
Tennessee Williams : mad pilgrimage of
the flesh / John Lahr. — First edition.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-02124-0 hardcover
1. Williams, Tennessee, 1911–1983. 2. Dramatists,
American—20th century—Biography. I. Title.
PS3545.I5365Z7326 2014
812'.54—dc23
[B]
2014022281
ISBN 978-0-393-24712-1 (e-book)
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Table of Contents
Preface
1 Blood-Hot and Personal
2 The Heart Can’t Wait
3 The Erotics of Absence
4 Fugitive Mind
5 Thunder of Disintegration
6 Beanstalk Country
7 Kookhood
8 Waving and Drowning
9 The Long Farewell
10 The Sudden Subway
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Notes
Sources
Credits
Index
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