Photo: Stage Publishing Company, Inc., no photographer credited / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Lillian Hellman was born on June 20, 1905 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States and was credited as a playwright, screenwriter and writer. Death is recorded on June 30, 1984, at the age of 79. Education on record includes Columbia University. Recorded honors include National Book Award (1970), Paul Robeson Award (1976), Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and 2 more.
My Take
Lillian Hellman commands my respect as much for her spine as for her sentences. A New Orleans-born playwright who conquered Broadway, she refused to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, choosing the blacklist over betrayal at the height of the Red Scare. That moral clarity, costly and unglamorous, feels rarer than talent itself. Across plays, screenplays, and memoirs she wrote with a sharp, unsentimental authority that earned her a National Book Award. I am drawn to writers who treat conviction as inseparable from craft. Decades after her death, her insistence on standing by her beliefs still reads as bracingly modern.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lillian Hellman
- Name (Japanese)
- リリアン・ヘルマン
- Reading
- りりあん・へるまん
- Born
- June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Snake
- Origin
- New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Occupation
- playwright / screenwriter / writer / autobiographer / librettist
2. Background
- University
- Columbia University
Awards & achievements
- 1970 National Book Award
- 1976 Paul Robeson Award
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- honorary doctor of Brandeis University
- 1975 Ladies' Home Journal Women of the Year
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Lillian Hellman born?
Born June 20, 1905.
When did Lillian Hellman die?
Died June 30, 1984, aged 79.
Where was Lillian Hellman from?
Lillian Hellman was from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
What did Lillian Hellman do?
Lillian Hellman worked as playwright, screenwriter, writer, autobiographer, librettist.
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