Eugene Gladstone O'Neill Jr. (May 5, 1910 – September 25, 1950) was an American professor of

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...

and the only child of

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

-winning playwright

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

and his first wife, Kathleen Jenkins.

Early life

O'Neill Jr.'s parents divorced in 1912, when he was a toddler. O'Neill once said he did not even meet his father until age 12. He entered Yale in 1928; in his freshman year a poem he had written was widely reprinted. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from Yale in 1932, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

secret student society. After studying abroad for a year, he earned a PhD in philosophy from Yale in 1936. His father had two other children with Agnes Boulton, his wife from 1918 to 1929: Shane, born in 1919 and

Oona Oona is a feminine given name. It is an anglicisation of the Irish-language name ''Úna''. Apart from in Ireland, it is also a popular name in Finland. People with the name Oona * Oona Brown (born 2004), American ice dancer * Oona Chaplin (born ...

born in 1925.

Career

As a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and philosophy scholar, O'Neill taught at Yale, Princeton,

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

, and the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

. He was the editor of a collection of Greek plays; shortly before his death he had contributed book reviews to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and the ''

Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, essays a ...

'', and also been featured on the CBS radio show, "Invitation to Learning".

Personal life and death

O'Neill married in 1931, to Elizabeth Green; this marriage ended in divorce after six years. He married secondly Sarah Hayward in 1939, whom he divorced after seven years. He then remarried a third time, to Janet Hunter Longley. O'Neill abused alcohol, as did his father and grandfather. On September 25, 1950, in

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

at age 40 by slitting his wrist and ankle with a razor. He then walked downstairs and expired by the front door of his cottage. These lines were found among his effects after his death: "Never let it be said of O'Neill that he failed to empty a bottle. Ave atque vale ail and farewell" Shortly before his death, he had played the lead in a local theatrical production for the benefit of the local

artists' colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission- ...

References

External links

* * Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Collection. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Last photograph taken of O'Neill
1910 births 1950 suicides 1950 deaths American classical scholars Yale University alumni Yale University faculty Sarah Lawrence College faculty The New School faculty Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in New York (state) Members of Skull and Bones {{US-edu-bio-stub