2012 Death Robertson Davies, novelist essayist/dramatist, dies 1996 Death Cao Yu, playwright, dramatist, dies at 86 1996 Death Marin Sorescu, poet/dramatist, dies at 60 1995 Death Heiner Muller, dramatist, dies at 66 1995 Death Robertson Davies, novelist essayist/dramatist, dies 1993 Death Carleton Morse, radio dramatist (One Man's Family), dies at 91 1993 Death Max Croiset, Dutch actor/dramatist/director (Zeekant), dies at 80 1990 Death Claude Spaak, Belgian dramatist, dies 1989 Death Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish dramatist/poet, dies at 72 1986 Death Jean Genet, French criminal/novelist/dramatist, dies at 75 1984 Death Denis Johnston, Irish Dramatist 1977 Death Denys Amiel, French dramatist/playwright (Le mouton noir), dies at 92 1974 Death Marcel Achard, French dramatist (La forges the Paris), dies at 75 1970 Death Nelly Sachs, born in Schoenberg, Berlin, writer, poet, dramatist, Jewish, works include, 'Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels', dies at 78 1963 Death John Whiting, British dramatist/actor (Devils), dies 1961 Death Moss Heart, U.S. dramatist (You can't take it with you), dies at 57 1961 Death Yme C Schuitmaker, potato farmer/dramatist, dies 1960 Death Zora Neale Hurston, American Dramatist 1959 Death Maxwell Anderson, U.S. dramatist (Key Largo, Bath Seed), dies at 70 1955 Death Robert E Sherwood, dramatist (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), dies at 59 1953 Death Ugo Betti, dramatist, dies 1952 Death Roger Vitrac, French poet/dramatist (Mysteries of Love), dies at 52 1951 Death James Bridie, Osborne Henry Mavor, dramatist, dies 1950 Death Balthazar H Verhagen, Netherlands/South African dramatist/writer, dies 1949 Death Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist 1947 Birthday Ursula Krechel, born in Trier, Germany, writer, poet, radio dramatist, winner, Joseph-Breitbach-Preis 2009, works include, 'Der Ubergriff' 1945 Death Bruno Frank, born in Stuttgart, Germany, writer, dramatist, novelist, wrote 'Trenchk', 'The Days of the King', dies at 58 in Beverly Hills, California 1944 Death Max Halbe, born in Guttland, now Kozliny, Germany, writer, dramatist, Naturalist movement literary style, works include 'Jugend', dies in Neuotting, Bavaria, at age 79 1944 Death Jean Giraudoux, French Dramatist 1943 Birthday Mike Leigh, dramatist/director, High Hopes, Secrets and Lies 1936 Birthday Marin Sorescu, poet/dramatist 1935 Birthday Bent Lorentzen, born in Stenvad, Denmark, prolific composer, dramatist, wrote 18 operas to date, compared to Richard Vagner 1934 Birthday Wole Soyinka, born in Nigeria, dramatist, Road, Kongi's Harvest-Nobel 1986 1933 Death Karl Friedrich Paul Ernst, writer, journalist, dramatist, critic, works include 'Die Hochzeit', 'Canossa', dies at 67 in Sankt Georgen, Austria 1933 Birthday Joe Orton, England, actor/dramatist, Prick Up Your Ears 1932 Death Lady Gregory, Irish Dramatist 1929 Death Arno Holz, poet, dramatist, freelance writer, wrote book of poetry 'Phantaesus', dies at 66 1929 Birthday Heiner Muller, dramatist 1923 Birthday Erland Josephson, Stockholm Sweden, actor/dramatist, Utflykt 1923 Birthday Paddy Chayevsky, Sydney, U.S., dramatist, Marty, Hospital 1923 Birthday Paddy Chayefsky, American Dramatist 1917 Birthday John Whiting, British dramatist/actor, Saint's Day 1916 Birthday Peter Weiss, Germany, Swedish author/dramatist/novelist, Marat/Sade 1913 Birthday Ernst Schnabel, German sailor/dramatist, Anne Frank 1913 Birthday Robertson William Davies, novellist essayist/dramatist 1912 Birthday Joseph Stein, dramatist/playwright, Fiddler on the Roof 1911 Birthday Jan Lode Cantens, Flemish dramatist, God's Murderer 1910 Birthday Jean Genet, born in Paris, France, criminal/novelist/dramatist, The Blacks 1910 Birthday Cao Yu, born in China, born Wan Jiabao, playwright, dramatist, celebrated for Thunderstorm, Sunrise, and Peking Man, responsible for spoken theater in 20th century Chinese literature 1910 Birthday Jean Anouilh, born in France, dramatist, Thieves' Carnival 1909 Death John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at 37 1906 Death Hendrik J Schimmel, author/dramatist, dies 1906 Birthday Clifford Odets, U.S., dramatist, 1961 Award of Merit-Golden Boy 1905 Birthday Emlyn Williams, Welsh Dramatist 1904 Birthday Philip Burton, teacher/writer/dramatist 1904 Death Anton Chekhov, Russian Dramatist 1902 Birthday Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian poet/dramatist/novelist, The Defeat 1901 Birthday Denis Johnston, Irish Dramatist 1899 Birthday Roger Vitrac, French poet/dramatist, Coup of Trafalgar 1898 Birthday Federico Garcia Lorca, born in Spain, poet/dramatist, Blood Wedding 1896 Birthday Philip Barry, U.S., dramatist, Philadelphia Story 1896 Birthday Robert Sherwood, dramatist, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Idiot's Delight 1896 Birthday Arnold Ridley, Bath England, actor/dramatist, The Ghost Train 1892 Birthday Archibald MacLeish, Glencoe, Illinois, polit essayist/poet/dramatist, JB 1892 Birthday Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet/dramatist, Harp Weaver-Pulitzer Prize 1891 Birthday Nelly Sachs, born in Schoenberg, Berlin, writer, poet, dramatist, Jewish, works include, 'Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels' 1891 Birthday Sidney Coe Howard, U.S., dramatist, Swords, Pulitzer 1925 1891 Birthday Par Lagerkvist, Sweden, novelist/dramatist, Barabbas, Nobel 1951 1891 Birthday Zora Neale Hurston, American Dramatist 1889 Birthday George S. Kaufman, American Dramatist 1888 Birthday Maxwell Anderson, U.S., dramatist, Winter Set, High Tor 1888 Birthday Eugene O'Neill, born in New York City, dramatist, Desire Under the Elms-Nobel 1936 1888 Birthday T. S. Eliot, St. Louis poet/dramatist/critic, Waste Land-Nobel 1948 1887 Birthday Bruno Frank, born in Stuttgart, Germany, writer, dramatist, novelist, wrote 'Trenchk', 'The Days of the King' 1886 Death Henry Taylor, English Dramatist 1884 Birthday James Elroy Flecker, English poet/dramatist, Hassan 1884 Birthday Denys Amiel, French dramatist/playwright, Cafe Tabac 1884 Death Henry James Byron, English Dramatist 1881 Birthday Stefan Zweig, Vienna Austria, poet/essayist/dramatist, Beware of Pity 1881 Birthday Balthazar H. Verhagen, Netherlands/South African dramatist and writer 1877 Birthday Harley Granville-Barker, London, dramatist/producer/critic 1877 Birthday Yme C Schuitmaker, Dutch potato salesman/dramatist 1874 Birthday Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austria, poet/dramatist/essayist 1873 Birthday Joaquin Alvarez Quintero, Spanish dramatist/playwright, Los Galeotes 1871 Birthday John Millington Synge, Ireland, dramatist/poet, Riders to the Sea 1871 Birthday Serafin Alvarez Quintero, Spanish dramatist/playwright, El Flechazo 1866 Birthday Karl Friedrich Paul Ernst, born in Elbingerode, Germany, writer, journalist, dramatist, critic, works include 'Die Hochzeit', 'Canossa' 1865 Birthday Max Halbe, born in Guttland, now Kozliny, Germany, writer, dramatist, Naturalist movement literary style, works include 'Jugend' 1863 Birthday Arno Holz, born in Germany, poet, dramatist, freelance writer, wrote book of poetry 'Phantaesus' 1862 Birthday Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist 1860 Birthday Anton Chekhov, Russian Dramatist 1856 Birthday George Bernard Shaw, Dublin Ire, dramatist, Pygmalion-Nobel 1925 1852 Birthday Lady Gregory, Irish Dramatist 1850 Birthday Harishchandra, India, poet/dramatist/father of modern Hindi 1849 Birthday August Strindberg, Sweden, dramatist and novelist, 'Apologia' 1840 Birthday Abraham Goldfaden, Eastern European Yiddish dramatist 1836 Death Christian Dietrich Grabbe, writer, dramatist, anti-Semite, idolized by the Nazis, works include, 'Hannibal', 1835, dies at 34 1835 Birthday Henry James Byron, English Dramatist 1832 Birthday Jose Echegaray y Eizaguirre, mathematician/dramatist, Nobel 1904 1823 Birthday Hendrik Jan Schimmel, Dutch writer/dramatist, 2 Tudors 1817 Birthday Jose Zorrilla y Moral, Vallodolid Spain, poet/dramatist, El rey Loco 1812 Death Andrew Cherry, Irish Dramatist 1811 Death Heinrich J von Collin, Austria dramatist/poet (Coriolan), dies 1809 Death Thomas Holcroft, English Dramatist 1803 Death Vittorio Alfieri, Italian Dramatist 1801 Birthday Christian Dietrich Grabbe, born in Detmold, Germany, writer, dramatist, anti-Semite, idolized by the Nazis, works include, 'Hannibal', 1835 1800 Birthday Mihaly Vorosmarty, Hungary, poet/dramatist, "To a Day-Dreamer" 1800 Birthday Henry Taylor, English Dramatist 1799 Death Pierre de Beaumarchais, dramatist, dies 1792 Death Charles Simon Favart, French Dramatist 1791 Birthday A Eugene Scribe, French dramatist, Bertrand et Raton 1791 Birthday Franz Gillparzer, Austrian tragic dramatist, Golden Fleece 1781 Death Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, writer, dramatist, art critic, Enlightenment era writer, influenced development of German literature, dies at 52 in Braunschweig, Germany 1777 Birthday Heinrich von Kleist, Germany, dramatist/poet, Penthesilea 1771 Birthday Heinrich J von Collin, Austria dramatist/poet, Regulus 1762 Birthday Andrew Cherry, Irish Dramatist 1757 Death Edward Moore, English Dramatist 1749 Birthday Vittorio Alfieri, Italian Dramatist 1745 Birthday Thomas Holcroft, English Dramatist 1739 Death George Lillo, English dramatist (Fatal Curiosity), dies at 46 1730 Birthday Oliver Goldsmith, Ireland, novelist/dramatist, She Stoops to Conquer 1729 Death Richard Steele, British Dramatist 1729 Birthday Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, born in Kamenz, Germany, writer, dramatist, art critic, Enlightenment era writer, influenced development of German literature 1729 Death William Congreve, English dramatist (Love for Love), dies at 58 1720 Birthday Samuel Foote, England, actor/dramatist, Mirror 1716 Death William Wycherley, dramatist (The Country Wife), dies at about 75 1712 Birthday Edward Moore, English Dramatist 1710 Birthday Charles Simon Favart, French Dramatist 1709 Death Thomas Corneille, French dramatist, dies at 74 1707 Death George Farquhar, Irish Dramatist 1693 Birthday George Lillo, bourgeois English dramatist, London Merchant 1689 Death Aphra Behn, English Dramatist 1684 Death Pierre Corneille, French lawyer/dramatist (El Cid, Polyeucte), dies at 42 1681 Death Pedro Calderon de la Barca, writer, dramatist, Spanish Golden Age, works include, 'La vida es sueno', or, 'Life is a Dream', dies at 81 1671 Birthday Colley Cibber, England, dramatist/poet laureate, Love's Last Shift 1664 Death Andreas Gryphius, German writer, poet, dramatist, master of philosophy, works include historical tragedy 'Leo Armenius', dies at age 47 1664 Birthday John Vanbrugh, London, dramatist/architect, baptized 1655 Death Tristan l'Hermite, French dramatist/poet, dies (birth date unknown) 1655 Death Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist/novelist, dies at 36 in Paris 1643 Death William Cartwright, English Dramatist 1640 Death Philip Massinger, dramatist, dies 1637 Death Ben Johnson, dramatist/playwright, dies at 65 1635 Birthday Thomas Betterton, London, actor/dramatist, Coriolanus 1634 Death George Chapman, English dramatist/interpreter, dies 1627 Death Thomas Middleton, Elizabethan dramatist (Women Beware Women), dies 1626 Death Cyril Tourneur, English poet/dramatist, dies at about 51 1616 Birthday Andreas Gryphius, born in Glogow, Silesia, German writer, poet, dramatist, master of philosophy, works include historical tragedy 'Leo Armenius' 1616 Death William Shakespeare, English Dramatist 1611 Birthday William Cartwright, English Dramatist 1609 Birthday John Suckling, English Cavalier poet/dramatist/courtier 1606 Birthday Pierre Corneille, France, dramatist, El Cid, Horace 1600 Birthday Pedro Calderon de la Barca, born in Madrid, Spain, writer, dramatist, Spanish Golden Age, works include, 'La vida es sueno', or, 'Life is a Dream' 1593 Death Christopher Marlowe, British dramatist (Tamburlaine the Great), murdered 1587 Birthday Joost van den Vondel, Cologne Germany, Dutch poet/dramatist, Jephtha 1586 Birthday John Ford, English dramatist, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore 1579 Birthday John Fletcher, Elizabethan dramatist, Phylaster, baptized 1564 Birthday Christopher Marlowe, English Dramatist 1564 Birthday Christopher Marlowe, English poet/dramatist, Dr. Faustus 1562 Birthday Lope Felix de Vega, born in Madrid, Spain, dramatist/poet, Angelica, Arcadia 1558 Birthday Thomas Kyd, English dramatist, Spanish Tragedy 1558 Birthday Robert Greene, Elizabethan dramatist, Friar Bacon 1543 Birthday Juan de la Cueva, Spain, dramatist
