Edward Albee, Playwright, Dead at 88

At the heart of Edward Albee's life is a bit of mystery. He was born on March 12, 1928, as Edward Harvey, in, as most accounts agree but not all, Washington, D.C. Some say it is unclear where his exact birthplace was, citing somewhere in Virginia.

Since he apparently did not attempt to contact his birth parents and was adopted at 2 weeks of age, it is not likely that any information about his early or natural parents' background will emerge. Much, however, is known about his life with his adoptive parents and the plays he offered to American and international audiences to award-winning and popular acclaim.

The Montauk resident and founder of the Edward F. Albee Foundation died at home on Friday after a short illness. He was raised by Reid and Frances Albee, a wealthy couple who brought Mr. Albee up in Larchmont, N.Y. By all accounts, he had a rebellious youth and attended a number of schools before graduating from Choate in Connecticut. He then attended but dropped out of Trinity College in Hartford.

His father inherited his wealth from a family business of vaudeville theaters that became the RKO Organization with the advent of film. Mr. Albee was named for his paternal grandfather. Although he showed great enthusiasm for the arts and theater at an early age, his natural inclinations were thwarted by his more conventional upbringing, and he left school to live in New York City when he was 20. After using up some family money, he took odd jobs until a decade later a short work, "Zoo Story," opened in Berlin and then New York City in 1959. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" followed in 1962 and then the Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Delicate Balance" in 1966.

These plays set out what would become the model for not only his 25 plays to come but the plays of others: experimental, intense, and provocative. Many would go on to achieve more success and awards and even two more Pulitzers, for "Seascape" of 1975 and "Three Tall Women" of 1994.

The money he made from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was channeled into his foundation back in 1967. At the foundation's heart is the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center, or "the Barn," as it is more commonly known, in Montauk. The property offers residencies to writers and artists from mid-May to mid-October for four and six-week blocks of time. It continues to operate to this day.

Mr. Albee was known to spend time with the residents and also for his impromptu readings at East Hampton's LongHouse Reserve, where Jack Lenor Larsen, his friend from the time he moved to the city, lived and worked to create the gardens and art installations on the property. Mr. Larsen mentioned a few years ago that he, Mr. Albee, and Andy Warhol were all friends in their very early days in New York City and then throughout their lives. "We always knew what we wanted to do," Mr. Larsen said of himself and Mr. Albee. "Andy was different, he didn't know. That's why he did so much."

According to The New York Times, Mr. Albee left no survivors. His longtime partner, Jonathan Thomas, died in 2005.