Robert Anderson was an American playwright and producer. He was born in New York City and attended grade school at Phillips Exeter Academy before graduating from Harvard University with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he adapted plays and novels for radio and TV. He also taught playwriting through the American Theater Wing.
Anderson’s best-known play is Tea and Sympathy, which debuted on Broadway in 1953. The play, about a private school student who faces accusations of homosexuality, was inspired by Anderson’s experience at Phillips Exeter. Anderson was also a theatre producer and screenwriter for film and television. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his screenplays. In 1981, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Anderson died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2009.
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