Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder Chronology
| 1897 | Born in Madison, Wisconsin (April 17) |
| 1906 | Moves to Hong Kong in May and to Berkeley, California in October |
| 1906-10 | Emerson Public School in Berkeley |
| 1910-11 | China Inland Mission School, Chefoo, China (one year) |
| 1912-13 | Thacher School, Ojai, CA (one year). First play known to be produced: The Russian Princess |
| 1915 | Graduates from Berkeley High School; active in school dramatics |
| 1915-17 | Oberlin College; published regularly |
| 1920 | B.A. Yale College (3-month service in 1918 with U.S. Army in 1918); many publications |
| 1920-21 | American Academy in Rome (8-month residency) |
| 1920s | French teacher at Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey (’21-’25 & ’27-’28) |
| 1924 | First visit to the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire |
| 1926 | M.A. in French literature, Princeton University. The Trumpet Shall Sound produced off-Broadway (American Laboratory Theatre). The Cabala (first novel) |
| 1927 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey (novel- Pulitzer Prize) |
| 1928 | The Angel That Troubled The Waters (first published collection of drama—playlets) |
| 1930s | Part-time faculty, University of Chicago (comparative literature and composition); lectures across the country; first Hollywood screen-writing assignment (1934); extensive foreign travel |
| 1930 | The Woman of Andros (novel) |
| 1930 | Completion of home for his family and himself in Hamden, Connecticut |
| 1931 | The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays (six one-act plays) |
| 1932 | Lucrece opens on Broadway staring Katharine Cornell (translation of André Obey’s Le Viol de Lucrèce) |
| 1935 | Heaven’s My Destination (novel) |
| 1937 | A Doll’s House (adaptation/ trans.) opens on Broadway with Ruth Gordon |
| 1938 | Our Town (Pulitzer Prize) and The Merchant of Yonkers open on Broadway |
| 1942 | The Skin of Our Teeth opens on Broadway (Pulitzer Prize). Screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Shadow of a Doubt |
| 1942-45 | Service with Army Air Force in North Africa and Italy (Lieut. Col. at discharge – Bronze Star and O.B.E.) |
| 1948 | The Ides of March (novel); performing in his plays in summer stock in this period. The Victors opens off-Broadway (translation of Sartre’s Morts sans sépulture) |
| 1949 | Major role in Goethe Convocation in Aspen; lectures widely. |
| 1951-52 | Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard |
| 1952 | Gold Medal for Fiction, American Academy of Arts and Letters |
| 1953 | Cover of Time Magazine (January 12) |
| 1955 | The Matchmaker opens on Broadway staring Ruth Gordon. The Alcestiad produced at Edinburgh Festival with Irene Worth (as A Life in the Sun) |
| 1957 | German Peace Prize |
| 1961 | Libretto for The Long Christmas Dinner (music by Paul Hindemith—premieres in Mannheim, West Germany). |
| 1962 | “Plays for Bleecker Street” (Someone from Assisi, Infancy, and Childhood) premiere at NYC’s Circle in the Square. Libretto for The Alcestiad (music by Louise Talma—premieres in Frankfurt, West Germany) |
| 1963 | Presidential Medal of Freedom |
| 1964 | Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing opens on Broadway |
| 1965 | National Book Committee’s Medal for Literature |
| 1967 | The Eighth Day (National Book Award for Fiction) |
| 1973 | Theophilus North (novel) |
| 1975 | Dies in sleep in Hamden, CT on December 7. Buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hamden, Connecticut |
For more information visit www.thorntonwilder.com and www.thorntonwildersociety.org.
A note from The Thornton Wilder Family:
Although Thornton Wilder died in 1975, it was not until the new century that key archival holdings, notably records held by Wilder's attorneys, dramatic agents and family members, became available and could be consulted by those wishing to build up a full, accurate picture of Wilder’s life and work.
Two volumes have been written since the full archive has been open and the Wilder Family highly recommends them, providing background and context for the Play:
- Thornton Wilder: A Life (2012) by Penelope Niven. The first definitive biography of Thornton Wilder, published by Harper Collins.
- The Selected Letters of Thornton Wider (2008) edited by Robin G. Wilder and Jackson R. Bryer. A sampling of some of Wilder’s thousands of letters together with important biographical material.
Additional approved resources are listed below, providing further information about Wilder’s work; the correct places to approach for reprint rights for photographs, extracts from Wilder’s novels, plays and letters; plus ways to connect with Wilder experts and fans across the world.
- Official website of Thornton Wilder – www.thorntonwilder.com. Contact: Rosey Strub rosey@thorntonwilder.com
- Website of the Thornton Wilder Society – www.twildersociety.org
- The Barbara Hogenson Agency. Wilder’s Literary Agent able to grant reprint permissions for Wilder’s novels and plays. Contact: Barbara Hogenson bhogenson@aol.com
- Beinecke Library at Yale University – www.beinecke.library.yale.edu. Holder of the Thornton Wilder archive, including many rare papers, letters and photographs. Contact: Melissa Barton, Curator, Prose and Drama Melissa.barton@yale.edu.
- Harper Collins Publishers – www.harpercollins.com. For published editions of Wilder’s novels and full length plays as well as the reference books listed above. Contact: Sofia Groopman, Assistant Editor Sofia.Groopman@harpercollins.com
- Concord Theatricals www.concord.com. For acting editions of Wilder’s plays.
OUR TOWN © 1938, 1957 The Wilder Family LLC
Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd
www.alanbrodie.com