Thornton Wilder

Family Born April 17, 1897 Madison, Wisconsin Father: Amos Parker Wilder, owner and editor of Wisconsin State Journal Mother: Isabella Niven Wilder Second son and had three sisters (His twin brother died at birth)

Moved to Hong Kong and attended Chinese Mission School for one year Transferred to Thatcher School in Georgia Graduated from Berkley High School 1915 Attended Oberlin and Yale Undergraduate degree from Yale 1920 American Academy in Rome Princeton, MFA 1926 EDUCATION

His “American Experience” Summers working on farms in California, Kentucky, Vermont, Connecticut, & Massachusetts

Wilder as Teacher 1921: Lawrenceville N.J. – Taught French 1930’s – University of Chicago Translation, Comparative Lit, Composition – Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard

Wilder as Soldier WW I – Enlisted in Army / Coast Artillery Fort Adams, Rhode Island WW II – U.S. Army – Army Air Force Intelligence Served in Italy and North Africa Earned Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and honorary officership in the Military Order of the British Empire

Wilder as Author 1926 Novel The Cabala & off-Broadway play 1927 The Bridge of San Luis Rey – Pulitzer 1938 Our Town – 2nd Pulitzer Prize 1942 The Skin of Our Teeth – 3 rd Pulitzer 1942 The Shadow of a Doubt -Screenplay 1955 The Matchmaker – Hello Dolly! 7 Books, 8 Plays, 1 Screenplay, Essays

Wilder as Actor Summer-Stock appearances in The Skin of Our Teeth Our Town He said one of the hardest things he ever had to do was be the character in one of his plays and SAY the words he had written.