Danville in Contra Costa County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Eugene O'Neill: The Nobel Prize

Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 18, 2020

1. Eugene O'Neill: The Nobel Prize Marker

Inscription.
I feel so deeply that it is not only my work which is being honored, but the work of all my colleagues in America - that the Nobel Prize is a symbol of the coming of age of the American Theatre.
Eugene O'Neill, Nobel Prize acceptance speech, 1936

Eugene O'Neill is the only American playwright to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Three of his plays had won him the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920s - Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie, and Strange Interlude. Other popular successes which propelled him to international fame included The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape, Desire Under the Elms, Marco Millions, The Great God Brown, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Ah, Wilderness!

But three plays, written when he lived in Danville from 1937 to 1944, tower over the others: The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Long Day's Journey into Night earned him a fourth Pulitzer Prize, awarded posthumously in 1957.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical year for this entry is 1936.

Location. 37° 49.259′ N, 121° 59.794′ W. Marker is in Danville, California, in Contra Costa County. Marker is on Front Street

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, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Danville CA 94526, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Eugene O'Neill: O'Neill in Danville (here, next to this marker); Eugene O'Neill (here, next to this marker); Eugene O'Neill: Carlotta and Gene (here, next to this marker); Eugene O'Neill: A Moon for the Misbegotten (within shouting distance of this marker); Danville Grammar School (within shouting distance of this marker); Tatcan Bay Miwok Indians (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Grange and Fraternal Hall (1874) (about 300 feet away); First Presbyterian Church of Danville, 1875 (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Danville.

More about this marker. This marker is one of eight O'Neill-related markers strung out along the path in Eugene O'Neill Commemorative Park, opposite the Danville Public Library.

Also see . . . The Nobel Prize in Literature 1936 (nobelprize.org). "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1936 was awarded to Eugene Gladstone O'Neill "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy....Eugene O'Neill received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1937. During the selection

Eugene O'Neill: The Nobel Prize Marker - wide view, looking south image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 18, 2020

2. Eugene O'Neill: The Nobel Prize Marker - wide view, looking south

process in 1936, the Nobel Committee for Literature decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Eugene O'Neill therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1936 one year later, in 1937." (Submitted on July 29, 2020.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 22, 2022. It was originally submitted on July 29, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 330 times since then and 41 times this year. Last updated on June 17, 2022, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 29, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.