Beth Henley

Elizabeth Becker Beth Henley is an awardwinning American playwright, screen writer, and actress. Her play, Crimes of the Heart won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the 1981 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play, and a nomination for a Tony Award. Her screenplay for Crimes of the Heart was nominated for an Oscar as Best Adapted Screenplay.

Henley was born in 1952 in Jackson, Mississippi. She was one of four sisters. Her father, Charles Boyce, was an attorney, and Elizabeth Josephine Henley, an actress. Henley attended Murrah High School in Jackson, followed by Southern Methodist University, where she was a member of the acting ensemble. While at college, Henley completed her first play, a oneact piece entitled Am I Blue. She graduated from Southern Methodist in 1974 with a BFA. From 1975 to 1976, she taught playwriting at the University of Illinois and the Dallas Minority Repertory Theater.

Source: Wikipedia