A.R. Gurney, Class of 1952

After graduating from Williams in 1952, A. R. Gurney served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and earned a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama. He has gone on to become one of the most prolific and produced playwrights in America. He has examined middle class WASP life both comically and poignantly in more than 40 plays, including “The Dining Room,” “The Perfect Party,” and “The Cocktail Hour,” which are performed across the country and abroad. He has won a Drama Desk Award, a Rockefeller Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards: one for outstanding play, “The Cocktail Hour,” and one for outstanding body of work. In 2000, he won the Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award at the William Inge Theatre Festival and Conference.