William Saroyan

William Saroyan (August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, short story writer and an amazing painter. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film The Human Comedy. When the studio rejected his original 240-page treatment, he turned it into a novel, The Human Comedy. Saroyan is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Family

• Parents: Armenak and Takuhi Saroyan, Armenian immigrants from Bitlis, Ottoman Empire. His father came to New York in 1905 and started preaching in Armenian Apostolic churches.
• At the age of three, after his father's death, Saroyan, along with his brother and sister, was placed in an orphanage in Oakland, California.[8]
• Spouse : Carol Grace ​(m. 1943; div. 1949)​; ​(m. 1951; div. 1952)​
• Children Aram, Lucy

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“Long before Jackson Pollock, for instance, had begun his magnificent experiments and made his magnificent achievements in painting, I had already been there, I had already made the experiments and had beheld the achievements. I hadn’t made anything of them because writing was my life, and, if I may say so, my business. The drawings and paintings were part of my writing, partly of my finding out about writing, and about how I would live my life and write my writing.” - William Saroyan

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• William Saroyan
• U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
• Birth: Aug 31 1908
• Death: May 1981
• Last residence: Fresno, California 93705, USA

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References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Saroyan
• http://williamsaroyanfoundation.org/biography
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2234/william-saroyan
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27538340/william-saroyan
• http://williamsaroyanfoundation.org
• https://www.theatlantic.com/author/william-saroyan/
• https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf187001q3/entire_text/
• https://www.fresnoconventioncenter.com/venues/saroyan-theatre/
• Artwork by William Saroyan < link >
• “Kay Armen dies at 95. Singer appeared in MGM's 'Hit the Deck'.” (Nov 17, 2011) Variety < link > Playwright William Saroyan and her cousin, Ross Bagdasarian (creator of the Chipmunks), wrote “Come on-a My House” for Armen, and Rosemary Clooney later recorded the song.