Tennessee Williams, famous for A Streetcar Named Desire, died at 71 after choking on a bottle cap from eye drops. He suffered from depression, alcoholism, and hypochondriasis. The cause of death is debated. Williams wrote over two dozen plays and was also a screenwriter, poet, and novelist.
Tennessee Williams, a playwright best known for A Streetcar Named Desire, died at the age of 71 in 1983 when he choked on a bottle cap. Williams suffered from depression and alcoholism for much of his life and he was also thought to suffer from hypochondriasis. The cap was from a bottle of eye drops. At the time, the coroner suggested that a normal gag reflex, which could have saved Williams, had been suppressed by drugs and/or alcohol. Some friends of the playwright speculated that the bottle cap was, in fact, a story and that Williams actually died after developing an intolerance to his prescribed medications.
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Tennessee Williams’ sister, with whom he was close, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. She was eventually given a lobotomy and institutionalized.
Her longest romantic relationship was with Frank Merlo and lasted 14 years. Merlo died of lung cancer in 1963, plunging Williams into a deep depression that may have led to his addiction to prescription drugs.
Tennessee Williams was the author of over two dozen major plays. He was also a screenwriter, poet and novelist.
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