Edward Albee is a playwright known for his frank and often absurdist assessments of twentieth-century life. Raised in Larchmont, New York, by adoptive parents, Albee’s first play was The Zoo Story (1959). His best-known work is the modern classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963), which received the Tony Award for Best Play and was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film. Albee received three Pulitzer Prizes throughout his career, among many other honors. He became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972, and received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005.