Lillian Hellman

Lillian Hellman 1905-84, American dramatist, b. New Orleans. Her plays, although often melodramatic, are marked by intelligence and craftsmanship. The Children's Hour (1934), her first drama, concerns the devastating effects of a child's malicious charge of lesbianism against two of her teachers. The Little Foxes (1939) and Another Part of the Forest (1946) constitute a chilling study of a wealthy and rapacious Southern family. Several of Hellman's dramas—notably Watch on the Rhine (1941) and The Searching Wind (1944)—treat international political themes such as isolationism and the rise of fascism. In 1952 she was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. She has made several English adaptations of French plays and, with Richard Wilbur, wrote the libretto for a musical version of Voltaire's Candide (1955). Her other plays include Days to Come (1936), The Autumn Garden (1951), and Toys in the Attic (1960). In 1931 she met the writer Dashiell Hammett , who remained her constant companion until his death in 1961.

Bibliography: See her autobiographical works, An Unfinished Woman (1969) and Pentimento (1973); J. Mellen, Hellman and Hammett (1996).

Hellman, Lillian (1905–84) US dramatist and writer. Her debut play, The Children's Hour (1934), set the tone for her enduring interest in Marxist theory. She received acclaim for her memoirs, beginning with An Unfinished Woman (1969), and concluding with Maybe (1980).

Hellman, Lillian (1905–84), American dramatist, whose first play The Children's Hour (1934; London, 1936) aroused extraordinary interest with its story of a neurotic schoolgirl who falsely accuses her teachers of lesbianism. In The Little Foxes (1939; London, 1942), a study of a predatory family of industrial entrepreneurs, and Watch on the Rhine (1941; London, 1942), which implies that America will soon have to join the fight against Fascism, Lillian Hellman fulfilled the promise of her début. In Another Part of the Forest (1946) she returns to the antecedent history of her ‘little foxes’. The Autumn Garden (1951) is a powerful group study in frustration and Toys in the Attic (New York and London, 1960) a searing study of failure and possessiveness. She also adapted a number of novels for the stage, and William Luce's one-woman play Lillian (1986) is based on her autobiographical work Scoundrel Time (1976).