Tracy Letts

Early life

Letts was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to author Billie Letts (), a college professor, and actor Dennis Letts. He has two brothers, Shawn, a musician, and Dana. He grew up in Durant, Oklahoma, and graduated from Durant High School in the early 1980s. He moved to Dallas, where he waited tables and worked in telemarketing while beginning his acting career. He appeared in Jerry Flemmons's O Dammit!, which was part of a new playwrights' series sponsored by Southern Methodist University.

Career

Theatre

Letts moved to Chicago at the age of 20, working for the next 11 years at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Famous Door. He is still an active member of Steppenwolf. He was a founding member of Bang Bang Spontaneous Theatre, whose members included Greg Kotis, Michael Shannon, Paul Dillon, and Amy Pietz. In 1991, Letts wrote the play Killer Joe. Two years later, the play premiered at the Next Lab Theater in Evanston, Illinois, followed by the 29th Street Rep in New York City. Since then, Killer Joe has been performed in a number of countries in 12 languages.

Letts has written a number of plays. His most famous, August: Osage County, premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago on June 28, 2007. It had its Broadway debut at the Imperial Theatre on December 4, 2007; the production transferred to Broadway's Music Box Theatre on April 29, 2008. The Broadway show closed on June 28, 2009, after 648 performances and 18 previews. The show went on to receive seven Tony Award nominations, winning six, including Best Play. The play won Letts the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2008. Letts has also been a finalist for the Pulitzer drama prize for his plays Man from Nebraska and The Minutes; the Pulitzer committee described The Minutes as a "shocking drama set in a seemingly mundane city council meeting that acidly articulates a uniquely American toxicity that feels both historic and contemporary."

Letts's plays have depicted people struggling with moral and spiritual questions. He says he was inspired by the plays of Tennessee Williams and the novels of William Faulkner and Jim Thompson. He has said that he considers sounds to be effective "storytelling tools" for theater.

During the late 1980s through the late 2000s, Letts acted in many of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's productions, starring in Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1994). In 2012, he gained attention for his Broadway debut performance in the revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Booth Theatre. He received positive reviews and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. In 2019, he appeared in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons with Annette Bening at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre. The show officially opened on April 22, 2019, and closed on June 23, 2019. Letts starred in the 2022 Broadway production of The Minutes, his first time acting in one of his own plays.

Television

Early in his acting career, in the 1990s through the mid 2000s, Letts acted in TV shows including Prison Break, The District, Strong Medicine, Profiler, Judging Amy, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld, Early Edition, and Home Improvement. In 2013–14, he joined the cast of Showtime's Homeland as US Senator Andrew Lockhart. He was nominated with the rest of the cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble.

In 2016, Letts joined HBO's marital comedy–drama Divorce. In 2018, Letts was cast in the second season of USA Network's anthology crime drama series The Sinner, opposite Bill Pullman and Carrie Coon. He played Jack McKinney in HBO's 2022 series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

Film

Letts starred in Adam McKay's 2015 ensemble piece The Big Short, 2016's Wiener-Dog, Christine, and Elvis & Nixon, and James Schamus's film adaptation of the Philip Roth novel Indignation, as well as the true-story crime thriller adaptation Imperium. Letts appeared in the 2017 films The Lovers, The Post, and Lady Bird.

In 2019, Letts portrayed Henry Ford II in James Mangold's sports drama film Ford v Ferrari, and played Mr. Dashwood in Little Women, a film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel of the same name.

Letts has written screenplays for three feature films based on his plays: Bug (directed by William Friedkin), Killer Joe (also directed by Friedkin); and August: Osage County (directed by John Wells). He also wrote the screenplay for the 2021 Netflix feature film The Woman in the Window, starring Amy Adams, based on the eponymous psychological thriller by A. J. Finn.

Personal life

He married actress Carrie Coon in September 2013. They have two children, born in 2018 and 2021. Letts was previously engaged to actress Sarah Paulson, and was in a relationship with actress Holly Wantuch until her unexpected death in 1998. He has been sober since 1993.

Work as an author

Theater

Screenwriter

Work as an actor

Theater

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Interview with Billie Letts". readersread.org.
2. (2008-02-25). "Dennis Letts, 73, a Professor Who Became Broadway Actor, Dies". The New York Times.
3. (2008). "Tracy Letts's Productions at Steppenwolf". Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
4. Carlton Stowers. (27 November 2003). "Sweet Revenge". The Dallas Observer.
5. (16 June 2008). "Tony Winners: 'In the Heights,' 'August: Osage County'".
6. "The 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Drama". pulitzer.org.
7. [http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/tracy-letts-0 "Finalists Tracy Letts"] pulitzer.org, retrieved April 16, 2018
8. (16 April 2018). "2018 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Full List". The New York Times.
9. Aifen Wang. (2008). "In-your-face Theatre with In Your Face Sound Design". Stage Research.
10. Gans, Andrew. (May 17, 2012). "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, with Tracy Letts and Amy Morton, Will Arrive On Broadway in September".
11. Schuessler, Jennifer. (2013-06-06). "'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' at the Tonys". The New York Times.
12. "All My Sons".
13. (26 February 2020). "Tracy Letts Can't Fight With His Playwright".
14. Otterson, Joe. (2018-11-02). "'Divorce' Renewed for Season 3 at HBO With New Showrunner, Smaller Episode Count".
15. Nguyen, Hanh. (2018-05-18). "'The Sinner' Season 2 Reveals First-Look Photos and Who's Joining Carrie Coon in the Mystery Crime Series".
16. "The Big Short Gets 5 Oscar Nominations Including Best Picture".
17. Debruge, Peter. (2016-01-25). "Sundance Film Review: 'Indignation'".
18. "Indignation (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes.
19. "Imperium (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes.
20. (22 December 2017). "Fritz Beebe, portrayed by Tracy Letts - 'The Post': 16 of the Film's Stars and Their Real-Life Inspirations".
21. "Lady Bird (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes.
22. Surrey, Miles. (2017-12-13). "SAG Awards Nominations: 'Lady Bird' Cleans Up, 'Phantom Thread' Flops".
23. (2020-01-13). "Oscar Nominations 2020: The Complete List".
24. Fierberg, Ruthie. (August 18, 2017). "Why Tony Nominee Carrie Coon and Pulitzer Prize Winner Tracy Letts Got Married in a Hospital".
25. "Carrie Coon and Husband Tracy Letts Expecting Their First Child".
26. "It's a Boy! The Post Stars Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts Welcome Son Haskell".
27. Hogan, Michael. (2021-08-15). "Actor Carrie Coon: 'My husband says I have ice-water in my veins'". The Observer.
28. "How Carrie Coon Hid Her Pregnancy on 'The Gilded Age' (Exclusive)".
29. Schulman, Michael. (March 2, 2016). "Sarah Paulson Opens Up About Acting, Marcia Clark and Dating Older Women". The New York Times.
30. https://www.willkern.com/Holly.html
31. https://playbill.com/article/holly-wantuch-noted-chicago-actress-dead-at-33-com-73083
32. Weber, Bruce. (2004-04-14). "For an Okie Playwright and Actor, A Life With Drama of Its Own".
33. (26 January 2018). "The Interview Show | Tracy Letts".
34. "Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tracy Letts". [[Artists Repertory Theatre]].
35. ""TEN" earns its rating at The Gift Theatre - Chicago Sun-Times".
36. "Carrie Coon Among Cast Of 19 For Steppenwolf's World Premiere Of Tracy Letts Play". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
37. "Linda Vista {{!}} Steppenwolf Theatre".
38. "The Minutes {{!}} Steppenwolf Theatre".
39. "Three Short Plays by Tracy Letts {{!}} Steppenwolf Theatre".
40. "Three Short Plays by Tracy Letts {{!}} Steppenwolf Theatre".
41. "Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Finalist 'The Minutes' Sets Post-COVID 2022 Broadway Reopening, Plans Venue Switch".
42. (16 January 2014). "Critics' Choice Awards: The Winners".
43. "August: Osage County".
44. "Tracy Letts (Performer)". Playbill.
45. (23 August 2024). "Married Duo Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts on Landing Emmy Noms Together for 'Gilded Age' and 'Winning Time'".
46. "Man from Nebraska, by Tracy Letts".
47. "August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts".
48. "Finalist: The Minutes, by Tracy Letts".
49. "The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards".
50. "The 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards".
51. "The 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards".
52. "August: Osage County".
53. (10 June 2013). "Steppenwolf's Tracy Letts Wins Best Actor in a Play Tony Award".
54. (February 2014). "WGA Awards: The Winners".