[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/164b5dd2ee43d8dda6493a5cd6bdc89c_eugene_smith_eugene_oneill_0.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:''"If I got rid of my demons, I'd lose my angels."'']]

->''"Would you mind running out and getting us a couple of tamales?"''
-->-- to '''UsefulNotes/CheGuevara''', during a visit to UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}.

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983) was an American author from [[NonIndicativeName Mississippi]],[[note]]He used "Tennessee Williams" as a PenName in tribute to his father, a Tennessee native.[[/note]] who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs. His professional career lasted from the mid-1930s until his death in 1983, and saw the creation of many plays regarded as classics of the American stage. Williams adapted much of his best-known work for the cinema.

Fun fact: Creator/DianeLadd is his cousin and Creator/EthanHawke is his great-nephew.

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!! His work includes:
* ''Film/BabyDoll'' (screenplay adopted from his one-act play, ''27 Wagons Full Of Cotton'')
* ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof''
* ''Theatre/TheGlassMenagerie''
* ''Film/TheNightOfTheIguana''
* ''Theatre/PeriodOfAdjustment''
* ''Theatre/TheRoseTattoo''
* ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''
* ''Theatre/SuddenlyLastSummer''
* ''Theatre/SummerAndSmoke''
* ''Theatre/SweetBirdOfYouth''
* ''Film/ThisPropertyIsCondemned'' ([[AdaptationExpansion expanded adaptation]] of his same-named one-act play)

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!!Tropes in the works of Tennessee Williams:
* BarefootLoon: Carol Cutrere from ''Orpheus Descending'' is a resident free spirit who walks barefooted.
* DisownedAdaptation: [[invoked]] Happened to Williams a ''lot.'' Many of Williams' plays dealt directly with themes of homosexuality, which could not be so much as hinted at under UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. Williams famously stood outside a theater showing ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof'' and told would-be moviegoers to go home.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Featured in much of his work.
* FilmOfTheBook: Or rather film of the play. Williams adapted much of his best-known work for the cinema.
* GayngstInducedSuicide: Much of the anguish motivating the protagonists of his two most famous plays, ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' and ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof'' revolves around gay men who commit suicide.
* MyBelovedSmother: Several plays feature matriarchs with their thumbs firmly on their children, most notably ''The Glass Menagerie,'' ''The Rose Tattoo,'' and ''Suddenly, Last Summer.''
* SouthernGothic: A feature of many of Williams' works, which often include explicitly Southern settings, madness, oppressive family dynamics, repressed sexuality, and dark secrets.
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