Horton Foote

No playwright in the history of the American theater has captured the soul of the nation more incisively than Horton Foote.

From his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Young Man From Atlanta, to his film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, which received an Oscar, millions of people have been touched by Foote's work. He has long been regarded by other playwrights and screenwriters, actors, and cognoscenti of the theater and cinema as America's master storyteller; critics compared him to William Faulkner and Anton Chekhov. Yet Horton Foote's compelling character and rich life remain largely unknown to the general public. His is the story of an artist who refused to compromise his talents for the sake of fame or money, or just to keep working -- who insisted on writing what he regarded as truth, even when for many years almost no one would listen.

In the first comprehensive biography of this remarkable writer, Wilborn Hampton introduces Foote to countless Americans who have admired his work. Hampton, a theater critic for The New York Times, offers a colorful, compulsively readable account of a life and career that spanned seven decades.

As a child in the small town of Wharton, Texas, Foote's favorite pastime was to listen to the stories his elders told -- about themselves, their families, their neighbors -- around the dinner table or sitting on the front porch. As he once explained: "One thing I was given in life is a deep desire to listen. I've spent my life listening. These stories have haunted me all my life." The stories also served as an inspiration for Foote's life work as he chronicled America's wistful odyssey through the twentieth century, mostly from the perspective of a small town in Texas. Beginning in the Golden Age of Television with dramas such as The Trip to Bountiful, through Broadway and Off-Broadway successes, to the mark he made in films such as Tender Mercies, and right up through a staging of his complete nine-play opus The Orphans' Home Cycle, he documented the struggle of ordinary people to maintain their dignity in the face of hardship and change that the erosion of time inevitably brings. It is a theme Horton Foote lived. Yet the paradox that shines through his work is that while the externals of life alter over the years -- wealth may be gained or squandered, love may be won or lost, friends and relations die -- people themselves do not.

Like Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams, Horton Foote's portraits of American life are iconic and true. His stories have helped shape the way Americans see themselves -- indeed, they have become part of the nation's psyche, and they will speak to many generations to come.

The first comprehensive biography of one of America s greatest playwrights, whose work from The Trip to Bountiful to the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird has helped shape American life for more than sixty years.

Horton Foote has garnered a Pulitzer Prize and two Academy Awards. Frank Rich, the drama critic for The New York Times, hailed him as "one of America s living literary wonders," an artist whose subtlety "suggests a collaboration between Faulkner and Chekhov." His work has touched millions and captured the soul of the nation more incisively than any other playwright, yet Horton Foote s own story is largely unknown to the general public.
Wilborn Hampton, a theater critic for The New York Times who has shared a friendship with Foote for twenty years, has crafted a colorful, compulsively readable biography that recounts Foote s rich life and extraordinary career, spanning much of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, and ranging from small-town Texas to Broadway to Hollywood. For six decades, through works such as Tender Mercies and The Young Man from Atlanta, Foote has chronicled the struggles of ordinary people to maintain their dignity in the face of hardship and change. Today, in his nineties, he is still vital and productive.
Hampton affords readers a unique view into his subject s life and work, his artistic inspirations, and his commitment to portraying American life as he saw it, even at times when no one would listen. Candid and compelling, this is a window into the heart and mind of an extraordinary talent, and into the psyche of America itself."

The first comprehensive biography of one of America's greatest playwrights, whose work--from "The Trip to Bountiful" to the film adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird"--has helped shape American life for more than 60 years. b&w photos.

andlt;bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;The first comprehensive biography of one of andlt;/bandgt;Aandlt;bandgt;mericaand#8217;s greatest playwrights, whose workand#8212;from andlt;iandgt;The Trip to Bountiful andlt;/iandgt;to the film adaptation of andlt;iandgt;To Kill a Mockingbirdandlt;/iandgt;and#8212;has helped shape andlt;/bandgt;Aandlt;bandgt;merican life for more than sixty years. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;/bandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Horton Foote has garnered a Pulitzer Prize and two Academy Awards. Frank Rich, the drama critic for andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;, hailed him as "one of Americaand#8217;s living literary wonders," an artist whose subtlety "suggests a collaboration between Faulkner and Chekhov." His work has touched millions and captured the soul of the nation more incisively than any other playwright, yet Horton Footeand#8217;s own story is largely unknown to the general public. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Wilborn Hampton, a theater critic for andlt;iandgt;The New York Times andlt;/iandgt;who has shared a friendship with Foote for twenty years, has crafted a colorful, compulsively readable biography that recounts Footeand#8217;s rich life and extraordinary career, spanning much of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, and ranging from small-town Texas to Broadway to Hollywood. For six decades, through works such as andlt;iandgt;Tender Mercies andlt;/iandgt;and andlt;iandgt;The Young Man from Atlantaandlt;/iandgt;, Foote has chronicled the struggles of ordinary people to maintain their dignity in the face of hardship and change. Today, in his nineties, he is still vital and productive. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Hampton affords readers a unique view into his subjectand#8217;s life and work, his artistic inspirations, and his commitment to portraying American life as he saw it, even at times when no one would listen. Candid and compelling, this is a window into the heart and mind of an extraordinary talent, and into the psyche of America itself.

andlt;Bandgt;Wilborn Hamptonandlt;/Bandgt; is a theater critic for andlt;iandgt;Theandlt;/iandgt; andlt;iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;.andnbsp;Throughout a journalistic career that began in andlt;st1:cityandgt;Dallasandlt;/st1:cityandgt; as a cub reporter covering the assassination of President Kennedy, and later carriedandnbsp;him to andlt;st1:cityandgt;Londonandlt;/st1:cityandgt;, andlt;st1:cityandgt;Romeandlt;/st1:cityandgt;, and the andlt;st1:placeandgt;Middle Eastandlt;/st1:placeandgt; as a foreign correspondent,andnbsp;his abiding passion for the theater remained constant. After joining andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt; as an editor, that lifelong love ledandnbsp;him into a position as a theater critic and feature writer, reviewing plays and conducting interviews on a freelance basis for the paper. Over the course of the past 20 years,andnbsp;he has reviewed more than 500 stage productions for andlt;iandgt;The Timesandlt;/iandgt;, and althoughandnbsp;he leftandnbsp;his editorial position on the paper in 2006,andnbsp;he continues to review plays and write articles on the theater on a regular basis. andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp;andlt;BRandgt;Hampton has publishedandnbsp;several Young Adult nonfiction books: andlt;iandgt;Kennedy Assassinated: The World Mournsandlt;/iandgt;,andnbsp;andnbsp;andlt;iandgt;Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Islandandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;September 11, 2001: Attack on andlt;st1:placeandgt;andlt;st1:cityandgt;New York Cityandlt;/st1:cityandgt;andlt;/st1:placeandgt;andlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;War in the andlt;st1:placeandgt;Middle Eastandlt;/st1:placeandgt;: A Reporterand#8217;s Storyandlt;/iandgt; (those 4 were published by Candlewick Press), and a biography of Elvis Presley publishedandnbsp;by Viking Childrens Books as part of their "Close Up" series.