Sidney Howard Biography

Fast Facts

• Was the first person to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Academy Award for Best Screenplay, and was also the first person to posthumously win an Academy Award
• During his playwriting studies at Harvard University, he participated in George Pierce Baker's "47 workshop," which produced such distinguished alumni as Eugene O'Neill, Thomas Wolfe, Philip Barry and Howard's good friend, S․N․ Behrman
• After serving in World War I, he became the literary editor for the original "Life" magazine
• In addition to several enduring screenplays, including "Gone with the Wind," he wrote over seventy plays and was one of the founding members of the Playwright's Producing Company․"
• His plays were often about charismatic but not entirely sympathetic Americans
• Loved the peace of rural life and spent as much time as his work would allow at his 700-acre farm in Tyringham, Mass
• Was proficient in a number of foreign languages, including French, Spanish, Hungarian and German