Dec 26, 2009

Long Day's Journey into Night | Author Biography

It was because Long Day's Journey into Night was so transparently autobiographical that Eugene O'Neill forbade the play's production and publication during his lifetime. The main characters are thinly veiled portraits of his father, James, his mother, Ella, his brother, Jamie, and himself.

James Gladstone O'Neill was born on October 6, 1888, in a Broadway hotel, son to the popular actor, James O'Neill, and Ella Quinlan. He was raised in the world of theater, and, as a result, in his boyhood and teen years he traveled all over America.

At eighteen, O'Neill entered...