Dramatists Guild of America Remembers Edward Albee's 'Fiercely Witty Plays', 'Ferocious' Support of Writers

As reported over the weekend, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Edward Albee, passed away at the age of 88. The revered playwright died in his sleep at his home in Montauk, Long Island.

The Dramatists Guild has just released a thoughtful, heartfelt a statement on Albee; read it in full below.

"The Dramatists Guild Council mourns the death of Edward Albee, our honored colleague and friend. Edward was one of our country's most revered and provocative dramatists, writing scabrous, fiercely witty plays that chronicled the existential anxieties of 20th Century Americans with a keen eye and a knowing heart. His work was so admired that we celebrated him with the Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, along with the Guild's Hull-Warriner Awards in 1976 and 1994.

"While he is justifiably revered as a playwright, he was an equally ferocious advocate for his fellow writers. Edward joined the Dramatists Guild in 1960, later becoming a member of our Council in 1965, and during his fifty-one years of service to the organization, he routinely fought to protect the rights of playwrights in rehearsal halls, academia, and the Library of Congress, and was a mentor to many playwrights among the generations that followed him. Those of us fortunate enough to serve with him during his long tenure will miss his wisdom, his mordant humor, his stringency, and his passion.

"Edward Albee was as committed to protecting literary works as he was to creating them, and as devoted to defending playwrights as he was to being one, and for this we are forever grateful."

Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928, and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include The Zoo Story (1958); The Death of Bessie Smith (1959); The Sandbox (1959); The American Dream(1960); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961-62, Tony Award, 2012-2013 Tony Award); Tiny Alice (1964); A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer Prize, 1966 Tony Award); All Over (1971); Seascape (1974, Pulitzer Prize); Listening (1975); Counting the Ways (1975); The Lady From Dubuque (1977-78); The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981); Finding the Sun (1982); Marriage Play (1986-87); Three Tall Women(1991, Pulitzer Prize); Fragments (1993); The Play About the Baby(1997); The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2000, 2002 Tony Award); Occupant (2001); and At Home At the Zoo: (Act 1, Homelife; Act 2, The Zoo Story.) (2004); Me, Myself and I (2010).

Albee was the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes for "A Delicate Balance," "Seascape" and "Three Tall Women." He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and president of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980. In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts. In 2005 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride