Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911. In 1947 Williams composed the New York Drama Critics Award, and Pulitzer Prize winning A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams' family life was full of tension and despair. His parents often engaged in violent arguments. His father, Cornelius, was a stern businessman who managed a shoe warehouse. Cornelius' bouts with drinking and gambling (habits that later ailed Williams) sent rumors about the family throughout the towns in which they lived (Williams moved 16 times in 15 years) . In the fall of 1929, Williams enrolled at the University of Missouri to study journalism. His father, angry that Hazel Kramer, Williams's ch