Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was bo r n on October 16, 1888 in a hotel bedroom in what is now Times Square, New Yo r k. Much of his childhood was spent in the comfo r t of books at boarding schools whilst his acto r father was on the road a nd his Mother contended with her own demons. He spent only a year at University - Princeton - a nd various reasons have been given fo r his departur

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was bo r n on October 16, 1888 in a hotel bedroom in what is now Times Square, New Yo r k. Much of his childhood was spent in the comfo r t of books at boarding schools whilst his acto r father was on the road a nd his Mother contended with her own demons. He spent only a year at University - Princeton - a nd various reasons have been given fo r his departure. However whatever his background a nd education denied o r added to his development it is agreed amongst all that he was a playwright of the first rank a nd possibly America's greatest. His introduction of realism into American drama was instrumental in its development a nd paved a path fo r many talents thereafter. Of course his winning of both the Pulitzer Prize (4 times) a nd the Nobel Prize are indicative of his status. His mo r e famous a nd later wo r ks do side with the disillusionment a nd personal tragedy of those on the fringes of society but continue to build upon ideas a nd structures he inco r po r ated in his early one act plays. Eugene O'Neill suffered fr om various health problems, mainly depression a nd alcoholism. In the last decade he also faced a Parkinson's like tremo r in his ha nds which made writing increasingly difficult. But out of such difficulties came plays of the calibre of The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, a nd A Moon fo r the Misbegotten. Eugene O'Neill died in Room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel on Bay State Road in Boston, on November 27, 1953, at the age of 65. As he was dying, he whispered his last wo r ds: ",I knew it. I knew it. Bo r n in a hotel room a nd died in a hotel room.",