Thomas Lanier `Tennessee` Williams III was born on March 26, 1911 in Columbus. At the age of 28, he moved to the city of New Orleans where the city life inspired him and most of his later plays. He proved to be a prolific writer and he earned a $100 from the Group Theater writing contest, for one of his plays. This landed him an agent, Audrey Wood, who would become his friend and adviser. Williams made his debut with the play Battle Of Angels in 1940. He was relatively unknown until The Glass Menagerie which he wrote in 1944. Following the success of this play, he wrote a number of plays that went on to become classics. A Streetcar Named Desire ( Pulitzer prize winner), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, and Sweet Bird of Youth are among his best known works. Williams passed away in 1983, four years after he was included in the American Theater Hall of Fame. A film adaptation of his play The Streetcar Named Desire will be screened at Monsoon Film Festival, Mumbai in September 2014.