Lillian Hellman was born in New Orleans, spent her childhood between New Orleans and New York, attended New York University and Columbia. In 1934 she launched her career as a playwright with The Children's Hour. Over the next three decades came a succession of achievements in the theatre: she has twice been awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Prize for the best play of the year.
Miss Hellman's memoir An Unfinished Woman won the National Book Award in 1969. She also received the Gold Medal for drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the Creative Arts Award from Brandeis University. She held honorary degrees from Wheaton College, Tufts University, and Rutgers University. She served as Regents' Professor at the University of California in Berkeley, and Distinguished Professor at Hunter College. She lived in New York City and Martha's Vineyard.
