Robert Graves

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Lore & Background

Anderson was born in New York City, the son of Myra Esther (Grigg) and James Hewston Anderson, a self-made businessman. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, which he later said he found a lonely experience. While there he fell in love with an older woman, an event which later becomes the basis of the plot of Tea and Sympathy. Anderson also attended Harvard University, where he took an undergraduate as well as a master's degree. He may be best-remembered as the author of Tea and Sympathy. The play made its Broadway debut in 1953 and was made into a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film in 1956; both starred Deborah Kerr and John Kerr. You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, a collection of four one-act comedies, opened in New York in 1967 and ran for more than 700 performances. His other successful Broadway plays were Silent Night, Lonely Night (1959) and I Never Sang for My Father (1968). He wrote the screenplays for Until They Sail (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), and The Sand Pebbles (1966). He also wrote many television scripts, including the TV play The Last Act Is a Solo (1991) and the novels After (1973) and Getting Up and Going Home (1978). He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981. Anderson was married to Phyllis Stohl from 1940 until her death in 1956 and to actress Teresa Wright from 1959 until their divorce in 1978. Anderson died of pneumonia on February 9, 2009, at his home in Manhattan, aged 91. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for seven years prior to his death.

Reader's Guide

As a supporter of writers' rights in theatre, Anderson was a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and was elected president in 1971. He continued to serve the non-profit organization until 1973. His selected credits include plays such as Dance Me a Song (1950) as contributing sketch writer, Tea and Sympathy (1953) as writer (original Broadway production ran 712 performances), Sabrina Fair (1954) as producer via the Playwrights' Company, All Summer Long (1955) as writer and producer via the Playwrights' Company, Time Remembered (1957) as producer via the Playwrights' Company, The Rope Dancers (1957) as producer via the Playwrights' Company, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running (1967) as writer, Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969) as writer, I Never Sang for My Father (1968) as writer, Double Solitaire (1970) as writer, and The Last Act Is a Solo (1991) as writer. His television work includes adaptations and original scripts for series such as The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (1948), The Prudential Family Playhouse (1950), Studio One in Hollywood (1951), Schlitz Playhouse (1951), Suspense (1952-1953), Medallion Theatre (1953), Alcoa Hour (1956), Goodyear Playhouse (1956), Armchair Theatre/The United States Steel Hour (1956), ITV Play of the Week (1960), Play of the Week (1961), Festival (1965), Double Solitaire (1974), The Patricia Neal Story (1981), The General Motors Playwrights Theater (1991), Absolute Strangers (1991), and Getting Up and Going Home (1992). His screenplays include Tea and Sympathy (1956), Until They Sail (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969, TV movie), and I Never Sang for My Father (1970). He also wrote the novels After (1973) and Getting Up and Going Home (1978).

Did You Know?

• Anderson's play Tea and Sympathy was based on his own experience of falling in love with an older woman while a student at Phillips Exeter Academy.
• Both the Broadway production and the film adaptation of Tea and Sympathy starred Deborah Kerr and John Kerr.
• Anderson was married to actress Teresa Wright from 1959 until their divorce in 1978.
• He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981.
• Anderson served as president of the Dramatists Guild of America from 1971 to 1973.