Saroyan, William

Saroyan, William (1908–81), American novelist and dramatist, born in Fresno, Calif., of Armenian parents. His first play, a long one-acter produced under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, was My Heart's in the Highlands (1939), which dealt with a poet's struggle to maintain his integrity in a materialistic world. His next play, The Time of Your Life (also 1939), a fresh and invigorating work about a group of characters in a saloon, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Not as successful, but still interesting, were Love's Old Sweet Song (1940) and The Beautiful People (1941). A less optimistic note was struck with Hello, Out There (1942), a one-acter depicting the lynching of an innocent tramp, and Get Away, Old Man (1943), which dealt with a young writer's conflict with a ruthless Hollywood mogul. After the comparative failure of several other plays not seen on Broadway, Saroyan recaptured some of his early success with The Cave Dwellers (1957), about some decrepit performers living in an abandoned theatre. Sam, the Highest Jumper of Them All (1960) was created with and for Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in London, after which Saroyan wrote little further for the stage, his last work being The Rebirth Celebration of the Human Race at Artie Zabala's Off-Broadway Theater in 1975. His plays have a strong vein of fantasy, and avoid conventional dramatic structure.