Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (133 page)

Read Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh Online

Authors: John Lahr

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Literary

BOOK: Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
9.15Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
as model for Stanley, 143
TW on, 72, 100, 102–3
TW’s final break with, 143–44
TW’s letters to, 109, 116–17, 118, 128–29, 139–41, 144
TW’s love for, 103, 109, 144
TW’s relationship with, 71–72, 100–105, 107–10, 116, 119, 120, 126, 139–41, 143, 169, 631
n
, 639
n
TW’s separations from, 124, 138, 139–40
Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, The
(film), 395
Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, The
(Williams), 151, 176–82, 183, 210, 211
Rome, Harold, 275
Rome, TW in, 152–55, 171–84, 201–3, 232–33, 235, 254, 280, 284, 290–91, 325, 328, 420
Romeo and Juliet
(Shakespeare), 221
Roosevelt, Franklin D., death of, 64
Rosa (char.), 182–83, 204–5, 207–8
Rosario (char.), 182, 195–96, 200
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, 233
Rose Tattoo, The
(film), 291, 302, 315, 317,
317
, 337
Rose Tattoo, The
(Williams), 94, 204–10, 216–18, 233, 281
Atkinson on, 215, 223
casting of, 210, 211–12
Crawford and, 198, 200
early versions of, 176, 182–83, 190–91, 208, 655
n
Kazan and, 183, 193–94, 195–96, 198–201, 203, 204, 240
Mann and, 211
Merlo given percentage of, 192
reviews of, 215, 218
rewriting of, 204
Selznick and, 193, 196–98, 214
tryouts of, 212
TW on, 218
Rose Williams Trust, 161, 591, 594
Rossellini, Roberto, 174
Roth, Philip, 64
Rothko, Mark, ix
Royale Theatre (New York), 436
“Rubio y Morena” (Williams), 71–72, 103, 113
Sagan, Françoise, 325
“Sailing to Byzantium” (Yeats), 443
Saint Denis, Michel, 159
St. Just, Lady Maria, xiii,
161
, 192, 235, 362, 482, 509, 511, 513, 522, 530, 550, 555, 568, 579, 583, 589
acting career of, 159–60
Capote on, 161–62
character of, 157
as co-trustee of Rose Williams Trust, 161, 591
as fantasist, 301
invented background of, 158–59
Kazan on, 157
Laughlin and, 298–99, 300–301
and Leverich’s biography of TW, xv, 599–600
marriage of, 301–2
memoir of,
see
Five O’Clock Angel
Merlo and, 299
as model for Maggie the Cat, 162, 297–98
money problems of, 593–94
obituaries of, 591–92
Out Cry
and, 515, 517, 520, 539
and Peters’s unfinished biography of TW, 597–98
productions of TW’s plays thwarted by, 596–97
scholarly access to TW’s papers refused by, 596
and TW’s break with Wood, 513–14
as TW’s European agent, 516, 517
TW’s letters to, 192–93, 237, 249, 250, 253–54, 263, 265, 295–96, 297, 313, 315, 317, 324, 330, 345, 350, 372, 395–96, 404, 412, 421, 438, 452, 458, 460–61, 463, 475, 517, 537, 539, 540–41, 545, 551, 665
n
, 667
n
, 694
n
TW’s
Memoirs
and, 592
and TW’s paranoia, 515
TW’s relationship with, 156, 157–58, 159, 160, 162, 170, 176, 237–38, 250–51, 281, 298, 299, 310, 460, 485, 514–15, 564, 566, 592–93
as TW’s self-appointed literary executor, xv, 161, 591–92, 594–601
on TW’s subject matter as creative dead end, 170–71
Vidal and, 160–61, 598, 600
St. Just, Peter Grenfell, Lord, 301–2, 594
St. Louis, Mo., Williams family in, 35–38, 497
Sanjurjo, Luis, 583, 587
Santa Monica, Calif., TW in, 94–95
Saroyan, William, 4, 21–22
TW’s letters to, 31, 96
Satan (dog), 429, 431
Saturday Review
, 534–35
Save Me the Waltz
(Z. Fitzgerald), 561
Sayre, Nora, 221
Schneider, Alan, 475, 480
Schneider, Irving, 134, 135
Schrader, Paul, 682
n
Schulberg, Budd, 187
Schwartz, Alan U., 461, 465–66, 516, 517
Schwartz, Arthur, 275
Scofield, Paul, 514, 517
Seagull, The
(Chekhov), 25, 717
n
Seawell, Donald, 467
Sebastian Venable (char.), 356–57
Seconal, 279–80, 285, 324, 349, 585, 587, 588
Seidelman, Arthur Allan, 559
Seldes, Marian, 471
Selected Letters
(Williams), xiii
Selznick, Irene:
Bell, Book and Candle
produced by, 212–14
Kazan’s relationship with, 131, 132–33, 145, 253
Rose Tattoo
and, 193, 196–97, 199, 214
as
Streetcar
producer, 125–29, 131–34, 138,
142
, 145
TW’s letters to, 197, 218
“Separate Poem, A” (Williams), 404, 449, 650
n
Serafina (char.), 182–83, 195, 197–98, 200, 204–10,
317
Seven Descents of Myrtle, The
(Williams), 482, 485
Seven Year Itch, The
(film), 320
Sewanee, 118
Shannon, Rev. (char.), 413–14, 415, 416, 421, 424
self-destructiveness of, 415, 439–40
Shaw, Irwin, 201, 262
Shepard, Sam, 476
Sherin, Ed, 550–51, 552–53,
552
, 597
Show
, 530
Shubert Theatre, TW memorial at, 588–89
Shulman, Milton, 160
Shurlock, Geoffrey, 226
Sidney, Sylvia, 559
“Siege, The” (Williams), 86–87
Silverstein, Mike, 532
Simon, John, 567, 714
n
Simon, Neil, 549
Singer, Louis,
Glass Menagerie
and, 1–2, 5, 9, 12, 126, 643
n
Sitwell, Edith, 274, 276, 668
n
Skin of Our Teeth, The
(Wilder), 194, 468
Skouras, Spyros, 251
Slapstick Tragedy
(Williams), 442, 474–75, 477–82, 494–95
Sloane, Al, 461
Small Craft Warnings
(Williams), 442, 521–22, 535
reviews of, 530
rewriting of, 528–29
success of, 530
TW as “Doc” in, 530–32,
531
Smith, Bruce, on TW’s relationship with St. Just, 593
Smith, Jane, 585, 586, 587
Smith, Jane Lawrence, 362
Smith, Liz, 569
Smith, Stevie, 456
Smith, William Jay, on
Battle of Angels
fiasco, 25–26
“Soft City, The” (Williams), 173, 652
n
Sokolow, Anna, 267–68
“Some of These Days” (Purdy), 586
Something Cloudy, Something Clear
(Williams), 94, 462, 569, 572, 597
South, University of the, TW’s bequest to, 594–95
Southeast Banks of Florida, 593, 596, 599
Soviet Union, 219, 233
“Speech from the Stairs” (Williams), 29
Spellman, Cardinal Francis, 230, 320, 675
n
Spiegel, Sam, 262
Spinning Song, The
(Williams), 41
conflict between TW’s parents portrayed in, 44–45
Splendor in the Grass
(film), 390, 406, 410
Spoleto, Italy, 412, 416, 442
Spring Storm
(Williams), 314, 366–67
Stairs to the Roof
(Williams), 56, 329, 629
n
–30
n
Stallone, Sylvester, 569
Stanley Kowalski (char.),
see
Kowalksi, Stanley (char.)
Stapleton, Maureen, 363, 399, 431, 461, 502
Orpheus Descending
and, 342
Rose Tattoo
and, 211–12,
213
, 216–18
TW’s friendship with, 217, 345, 556, 568–69
TW’s letters to, 217, 219
Stark, Ray, 466
Starless Air, The
(Windham), 669
n
Stein, Jean, 301
Steinbeck, Elaine, 273–74,
274
, 465
Steinbeck, John, 198, 241, 262, 273–74,
274
, 387, 465
Stella Kowalski (char.), 99, 118–20, 122, 229
Stevens, Ashton, 13
Stevens, Roger, 554
Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet
(film), 557
Stirrup, Dan, 462
Stone, Karen (char.), 176, 177–82
inner void in, 178
late sexual awakening of, 179–80
Stonewall riots, 521
Stony Lodge, 362–63
Stopped Rocking
(Williams), 555–58, 568, 597, 716
n
“Stornello” (Williams),
see
Rose Tattoo, The
(Williams)
Story
, 2
Streetcar Named Desire, A
(film), 184–85, 210, 225
Academy Award nominations of, 232, 248, 249
Breen office and, 226–29, 230
Kazan and, 226–28, 230–32, 249
Legion of Decency and, 229–31
proposed remake of, 569–70
success of, 240, 245, 258
TW’s screenplay revisions for, 226
Streetcar Named Desire, A
(Williams), 94, 112,
142
,
146
,
149
, 210, 284, 393, 644
n
Bankhead and, 317, 322–24,
323
Broadway opening of, 145–46, 149
casting of, 133–38
early versions of, 69, 95, 116, 118–19
Garfield and, 133–35
Kazan and, 119–20, 122, 129, 139, 141, 142–43, 145, 146, 194
London production of, 196, 198, 199, 656
n
Pulitzer Prize awarded to, 150, 160
revivals of, 301, 398, 399, 493, 550, 596–97
rewriting of, 120–23, 124–25, 138–39, 141
Selznick and, 125–29, 131–34, 138,
142
, 145
success of, 149–50, 151
tryouts of, 141–43
Strindberg, August, 18, 495, 705
n
Suddenly, Last Summer
(film),
359
, 395, 424
Suddenly Last Summer
(Williams), 356–57, 359, 363, 369, 370–71, 372, 398, 420
reviews of, 369
Sullavan, Margaret, 133
Summer and Smoke
(Williams), 73–74, 79, 81, 82, 94, 95,
98
, 101, 110, 118, 119, 122, 140, 314
Broadway production of, 150, 162–64
Off-Broadway revival of, 258, 385, 650
n
poor reviews of, 164, 173
writing of, 103, 104, 108, 111, 113, 114–15
Sweet Bird of Youth
(film), 386, 395
Sweet Bird of Youth
(Williams), 182, 241, 324, 326, 378,
382
, 403
Kazan and, 377, 378, 383–91, 392, 394, 399–400, 408, 673
n
London production of, 399
as metaphor for TW’s relationship with Merlo, 380–82
monstrousness in, 377
Philadelphia tryout of, 388–89, 391
reviews of, 392, 393, 408, 409
rewriting of, 372, 374, 375–76, 384
spiritual attrition of fame as theme of, 393
success of, 392, 395
TW on, 389, 390–91, 392–93, 394–95
workshop production of, 327,
327
Sylvester, Robert, 273
Symbol and Neurosis
(Kubie), 346–47
Tabori, George, 253
Tandy, Jessica, 151–52
Streetcar
and, 133, 139, 142–43, 145–46,
146
,
149
“Tangiers: The Speechless Summer” (Williams), 453
Tangiers, TW in, 449–50, 474
Taos, N.Mex., TW’s trip to, 104–6, 284, 669
n
Taylor, Elizabeth,
359
Taylor, Laurette, 67, 212, 323
death of, 115
drinking by, 3–4, 7–8, 15, 621
n
Glass Menagerie
and, 3, 5, 7–8,
10
, 11–12, 32, 53, 60, 61–62, 63, 434, 468, 620
n
TW on, 8, 11–12, 32–33, 62
Tea and Sympathy
(Anderson), 263, 291
television, social impact of, 220
Tell Them I’m on My Way
(Goodman), 595–96
Ten Blocks on the Camino Real
(Williams), 240, 245, 253, 254
“Tennessee” (Laughlin), 583
Tennessee: Cry of the Heart

Other books

My Neighbor's Will by Lacey Silks
La Brava (1983) by Leonard, Elmore
Orgullo y prejuicio by Jane Austen
Savage Rhythm by Chloe Cox
Death by the Book by Lenny Bartulin