Editing Edward Albee (section)

===1959–1966: The Early Plays===
Albee moved into New York's [[Greenwich Village]],<ref name="Playbill-obit" /> where he supported himself with odd jobs while learning to write plays.<ref name="CBC-obit">{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Mark|title=Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright Edward Albee dead at 88|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/edward-albee-obit-1.3767000|agency=Associated Press|date=September 16, 2016|access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> His roommate in New York was the composer [[William Flanagan (composer)|William Flanagan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whosafraidofedwa00fost/page/12/mode/2up|page=12|title=Who's Afraid of Edward Albee?|year=1978|last=Hirsch|first= Foster|publisher=Creative Arts Book Co.|isbn=978-0-916870-12-6 }}</ref> Primarily in his early plays, Albee's work had various characters that challenged the image of a heterosexual marriage.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Who's Who IN LESBIAN & GAY WRITING|last=Griffin|first=Gabriele|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-15984-9|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinlesbian0000grif/page/2 2–3]|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinlesbian0000grif/page/2}}</ref> Despite challenging society's views about the gay community, he did not view himself as an LGBT advocate.<ref name=":1" /> Albee's work typically criticized the [[American Dream]].<ref name=":1" /> His first play, ''The Zoo Story'', written in three weeks,<ref>[http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 8: Edward Albee."] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120716185246/http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html |date=July 16, 2012 }}, ''Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide''. Retrieved June 28, 2007</ref> was first staged in [[Berlin]] in 1959 before premiering Off-Broadway in 1960.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.provincetownplayhouse.com/plays1960s.html |title=Plays Produced in the Provincetown Playhouse in 1960s Chronological |work=[[Provincetown Playhouse]] |access-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref> His next, ''The Death of Bessie Smith'', similarly premiered in Berlin before arriving in New York.<ref>Albee, Edward.[https://archive.org/details/americandreamdea00edwa "The Death of Bessie Smith"]''The American Dream; The Death of Bessie Smith; Fam and Yam: Three Plays''. Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1962, {{ISBN|0-8222-0030-9}}, pp.46-48</ref>

Albee's most iconic play, ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', opened on Broadway at the [[Billy Rose Theatre]] on October 13, 1962, and closed on May 16, 1964, after five previews and 664 performances. The opening night cast featured [[Uta Hagen]]. [[Arthur Hill (Canadian actor)|Arthur Hill]], [[George Grizzard]] and [[Melinda Dillon]].<ref>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/2773/Whos-Afraid-of-Virginia-Woolf "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"], ''Playbill Vault''. Retrieved December 15, 2015.</ref> The play won the [[Tony Award for Best Play]] in 1963 and was selected for the [[1963 Pulitzer Prize]] by the award's drama jury, but the selection was overruled by the advisory committee, which elected not to give a drama award at all.<ref>{{cite news|title=US playwright Edward Albee dies aged 88|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37394714|access-date=September 19, 2016|work=BBC News|date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> The two members of the jury, [[John Mason Brown]] and [[John Gassner]], subsequently resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kihss|first1=Peter|title=Albee Wins Pulitzer Prize; Malamud Novel is Chosen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/08/15/specials/albee-pulitzer2.html|access-date=September 19, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 2, 1967}}</ref> An [[Academy Award]]-winning [[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|film adaptation]] by [[Ernest Lehman]] was released in 1966 starring [[Elizabeth Taylor]], [[Richard Burton]], [[George Segal]], and [[Sandy Dennis]], and was directed by [[Mike Nichols]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edwardalbeesociety.org/biography/|title=Biography &#124; Edward Albee Society|website=Edwardalbeesociety.org|access-date=November 21, 2023}}</ref> In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="2013Add">{{cite press release|title=Library of Congress announces 2013 National Film Registry selections |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 18, 2013|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/library-of-congress-announces-2013-national-film-registry-selections/2013/12/17/eba98bce-6737-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref>