Editing Lanford Wilson (section)

==Childhood and education==
Wilson was born to Ralph Eugene and Violetta Tate Wilson in [[Lebanon, Missouri]]. After his parents divorced when he was 5, he moved with his mother to [[Springfield, Missouri]], where they lived until she remarried.<ref name="donshewey.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.donshewey.com/theater_articles/lanford_wilson.html|title=Lanford Wilson|website=Don Shewey}}</ref> When he was 11, his mother married Walt E. Lenhard, a farmer from [[Ozark, Missouri]], and they both moved in with him. He had two half-brothers, John and Jim, and one stepsister, Judy.<ref name=NYTimes1/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/bookcol/wilson/|title=L. Wilson|publisher=University of Missouri Library|access-date=2015-09-03|archive-date=2015-09-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906084740/http://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/bookcol/wilson/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Barnett2">Barnett, p.&nbsp;2.</ref> He attended high school in Ozark and developed a love for film and art.<ref name="Dean">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ze0Gkixlct4C&q=lanford+wilson+interview&pg=PA126|title=Discovery and Invention: The Urban Plays of Lanford Wilson|last=Dean|first=Anne|date=December 30, 2015|isbn=9780838635483|page=15|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> As a child, Wilson enjoyed writing short stories and going to see plays performed at Southwest Missouri State College (now [[Missouri State University]]).<ref>Barnett, p.&nbsp;1.</ref> A production of ''[[Brigadoon]]'' had a particularly resounding effect on Wilson, saying that "after that town came back to life on stage, movies didn't stand a chance".<ref>Dean, p.&nbsp;16.</ref> He developed an interest in acting and performed in his high school plays, including the role of Tom in ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' by [[Tennessee Williams]].<ref>Barnett, p.&nbsp;51.</ref>

After graduating from [[Ozark High School (Missouri)|Ozark High School]] in 1955, Wilson began his collegiate studies at Southwest Missouri State College.<ref name="BarnettChrono">Barnett, ''Chronology''.</ref> In 1956, he moved to San Diego, where his father had relocated after his parents' divorce.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/la-me-lanford-wilson-20110325-story.html|title=Lanford Wilson dies at 73; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright|author=Jones, Chris|date=March 25, 2011|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref><ref name=Barnett2/> He studied art and art history at [[San Diego State University|San Diego State College]] as well as worked as a riveter at the Ryan Aircraft Plant.<ref>Barnett, pp.&nbsp;2–3.</ref> His reunion with his father was difficult, but the relationship improved in later years, and Wilson based his play ''[[Lemon Sky]]'' on their relationship.<ref name="NYTimes1"/> Wilson left college and moved to [[Chicago]] in 1957, where he worked as a graphic artist for an advertising firm.<ref name=BarnettChrono/> During this time, Wilson realized that the short stories he had always enjoyed writing would be more effective as plays, and began to study playwriting at the [[University of Chicago]] [[extension program]].<ref>Barnett, p.&nbsp;3.</ref><ref name=":0" />