Robert W. Anderson biography
Date of birth : 1917-04-28
Date of death : 2009-02-09
Birthplace : New York City, New York, US
Nationality : American
Category : Famous Figures
Last modified : 2011-05-14
Credited as : Playwright, Tea and Sympathy,
1 votes so far
He may be best-remembered as the author of Tea and Sympathy. The play made its Broadway debut in 1953 and was made into an MGM film in 1956; both starred Deborah Kerr and John Kerr.
You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, a collection of four one-act comedies, opened in New York in 1967 and ran for more than 700 performances. His other successful Broadway plays were Silent Night, Lonely Night (1959) and I Never Sang for My Father (1968).
He also wrote the screenplays for Until They Sail (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), and The Sand Pebbles (1966). He was Oscar-nominated for The Nun's Story as well as his 1970 screen adaptation of I Never Sang for My Father. He also authored many television scripts, including the TV play The Last Act Is a Solo (1991), and the novels After (1973) and Getting Up and Going Home (1978).
He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.
Anderson was married to Phyllis Stohl from 1940 until her death in 1956 and to actress Teresa Wright from 1959 until their divorce in 1978. Anderson died of pneumonia on February 9, 2009 at his home in Manhattan, aged 91. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for seven years prior to his death.
Author of books:
After (1973, novel)
Getting Up and Going Home (1978, novel)
Wrote plays:
Tea and Sympathy (1953, novel)
All Summer Long (1955, adapted from Donald Wetzel)
Silent Night, Lonely Night (1960)
You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running (1967)
I Never Sang for My Father (1968)
Absolute Strangers (1991)
The Last Act Is a Solo (1991)
