Chronology of Thornton Wilder’s Life and Works
“WILDER’S EARLY YEARS, 1897-1915
”
“Born in Madison, Wisconsin (April 17)”
“Moves to Hong Kong (May) and to Berkeley, California (October)”
“Attends Emerson Public School in Berkeley”
“Attends China Inland Mission School, Chefoo (Yantai), China”
“Attends Thacher School, Ojai, California
The Russian Princess, Wilder’s first play known to be produced, is performed by Thacher students”
“Graduates from Berkeley High School; active in school dramatics”
“UNIVERSITY YEARS, 1915-26
”
“Attends Oberlin College; publishes regularly”
“Receives B.A., Yale College (with brief service in 1918 with U.S. Army in 1918); many publications”
“Teaches at Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey (’21-’25, and ’27-’28)”
“First residency at the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire”
“Receives M.A. degree in French, Princeton University
The Trumpet Shall Sound produced in New York Off-Broadway Laboratory Theatre
The Cabala (first novel)”
“EARLY CAREER, 1926-37
”
“Second Novel: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Pulitzer Prize)”
“The Angel That Troubled The Waters (first published collection of drama–playlets)”
“Part-time teacher, University of Chicago
(comparative literature and composition); lectures across the country;
first visit to Hollywood (1934); extensive foreign travel”
“The Woman of Andros (novel)”
“The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays (six full one-act plays)”
“Lucrece (translation of André Obey’s Le Viol de Lucrèce) opens on Broadway staring Katharine Cornell”
“Heaven’s My Destination (novel)”
“Adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House for Broadway, starring Ruth Gordon (Broadway record for this play until 1999)”
“OUR TOWN AND THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, 1938-48
”
“Our Town opens on Broadway (Pulitzer Prize); performs role of The Stage Manager for two weeks”
“The Skin of Our Teeth opens on Broadway (Pulitzer Prize)
Writes screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Shadow of a Doubt”
“Military service with Army Air Force Intelligence in North Africa and Italy”
“The Ides of March (novel)
Performs in his plays in summer stock
The Victors off-Broadway (translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Morts Sans Sépulture)”
“MIDDLE YEARS, 1949-57
”
“Major role in Goethe Convocation in Aspen; lectures widely abroad”
“Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard”
“Gold Medal for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters”
“On cover of Time Magazine (January 12)”
“The Matchmaker opens on Broadway with Ruth Gordon (revision of the 1938 play, The Merchant of Yonkers)
The Alcestiad produced at Edinburgh Festival (as A Life in the Sun) with Irene Worth”
“Awarded German Booksellers Peace Prize, first American to receive this award”
“LATER YEARS, 1961-75
”
“Opera version of The Long Christmas Dinner (music by Paul Hindemith, libretto by Wilder) premieres in Mannheim, Germany (December 20)”
“Plays for Bleeker Street (Someone from Assisi, Infancy, and Childhood) performed at Circle in the Square Theater in New York City
Operatic version of The Alcestiad (music by Louise Talma, libretto by Wilder) premieres in Frankfurt, Germany (February 28)”
“Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom”
“Hello, Dolly! Opens on Broadway starring Carol Channing”
“Awarded National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature”
“The Eighth Day (novel); receives National Book Award for Fiction”
“Dies in sleep in Hamden, Connecticut (December 7)”