Horton Foote

Born March 14, 1916, in Wharton, Texas, Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was the son of haberdasher Albert Horton Foote and piano teacher Harriet Gautier "Hallie" Brooks. He trained as an actor at the Pasadena Playhouse before shifting his focus behind the scenes. After World War II, he and Vincent Donehue ran the King Smith School together, where Albert Horton Foote, Jr. opened the King Smith theater to audiences of all races — making it the first integrated house in Washington. He married Lillian Vallish; they had four children: Hallie, Horton Jr., Walter, and Daisy.

His film credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Of Mice and Men," "Tender Mercies," "Main Street," "The Chase," "The Trip to Bountiful," "Infinity," "Tomorrow," "Hurry Sundown," "Baby the Rain Must Fall," and "Storm Fear." On television, his work appeared on "Bessie," "American Playhouse," "Playhouse 90," "The Trip to Bountiful," "Armchair Theatre," "Kraft Theatre," "The United States Steel Hour," and "Old Man."

Among his honors: two Academy Awards — Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1963, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for "Tender Mercies" in 1984. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1995 for his play The Young Man From Atlanta, followed by a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Special for "Old Man" in 1997. The Writer's Guild of America honored him with its Lifetime Achievement award in 1999. In 2000, he received both the PEN American Center's Master American Dramatist Award and the National Medal of Arts.

Albert Horton Foote, Jr. voiced Jefferson Davis in the 11-hour PBS series "The Civil War." Broadway theater marquees were dimmed in his honor on March 5, 2009.