Hellman Family History & Genealogy

Lillian Hellman American playwright Lillian Hellman, (born June 20, 1905, New Orleans, La., U.S.—died June 30, 1984, Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.), American playwright and motion-picture screenwriter whose dramas forcefully attacked injustice, exploitation, and selfishness. Hellman attended New York public schools and New York University and Columbia University. Her marriage (1925–32) to the playwright Arthur Kober ended in divorce. She had already begun an intimate friendship with the novelist Dashiell Hammett that would continue until his death in 1961. In the 1930s, after working as book reviewer, press agent, play reader, and Hollywood scenarist, she began writing plays. Her dramas exposed some of the various forms in which evil appears—a malicious child’s lies about two schoolteachers (The Children’s Hour, 1934); a ruthless family’s exploitation of fellow townspeople and of one another (The Little Foxes, 1939, and Another Part of the Forest, 1946); and the irresponsible selfishness of the Versailles-treaty generation (Watch on the Rhine, 1941, and The Searching Wind, 1944). Criticized at times for her doctrinaire views and characters, she nevertheless kept her characters from becoming merely social points of view by writing credible dialogue and creating a realistic intensity matched by few of her playwriting contemporaries. These plays exhibit the tight structure and occasional overcontrivance of what is known as the well-made play. In the 1950s she showed her skill in handling the more subtle structure of Chekhovian drama (The Autumn Garden, 1951) and in translating and adapting (Jean Anouilh’s The Lark, 1955, and Voltaire’s Candide, 1957, in a musical version). She returned to the well-made play with Toys in the Attic (1960), which was followed by another adaptation, My Mother, My Father, and Me (1963; from Burt Blechman’s novel How Much?). She also edited Anton Chekhov’s Selected Letters (1955) and a collection of stories and short novels, The Big Knockover (1966), by Hammett. Her reminiscences, begun in An Unfinished Woman (1969), were continued in Pentimento (1973) and Maybe (1980). After their publication, certain fabrications were brought to light, notably her reporting in Pentimento of a personal relationship with a courageous woman she called Julia. The woman on whose actions Hellman’s story was based denied acquaintance with the author. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today Hellman, a longtime supporter of leftist causes, detailed in Scoundrel Time (1976) her troubles and those of her friends with the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings during the 1950s. Hellman refused to give the committee the names of people who had associations with the Communist Party; she was subsequently blacklisted though not held in contempt of Congress. Her collected plays, many of which continued to be performed at the turn of the 20th century, were published in 1972.

Kevin M Hellman was born on January 2, 1971, and died at age 37 years old on December 14, 2008. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Kevin M Hellman.

Kevin J Hellman of Dallas County, TX was born circa 1956. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Kevin J. Hellman.

She's so smart and always been level headed. Even when we were kids she has always been the voice of reason. Probably the most genuine person I know.

Clara Hellman was born on April 15, 1878, and died at age 81 years old in August 1959. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Clara Hellman.

Ronald D Hellman of Oneonta, Otsego County, NY was born on April 6, 1942, and died at age 60 years old on October 4, 2002.

Matilda Hellman of Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, California was born on February 15, 1890, and died at age 96 years old in October 1986.

Caroline (Sawert) Hellman of Coleraine Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Caroline Sawert Hellman.

Lucy Ellen (Hellman) Dean of Mary Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Lucy Ellen (Hellman) Dean.

Alex Hellman of Woodhaven, Queens County, NY was born on May 21, 1924, and died at age 86 years old on September 19, 2010.

Wallace W Hellman of Port Angeles, Clallam County, WA was born on April 11, 1921, and died at age 87 years old on July 7, 2008.

Anna Caroline (Sawert) Hellman of Me Ri Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Anna Caroline (Sawert) Hellman.

Vernon W Hellman of Havre, Hill County, MT was born on May 28, 1921, and died at age 70 years old on May 22, 1992.

Rogers H Hellman of Georgetown, Williamson County, TX was born on June 8, 1917, and died at age 76 years old on March 30, 1994.

Grace Hellman of Winnsboro, Wood County, TX was born on December 10, 1912, and died at age 86 years old on January 18, 1999.

Gabriel Hellman of Ridgefield, Bergen County, NJ was born on November 4, 1927, and died at age 76 years old on March 25, 2004.

Theodore Hellman of Palm Springs, Riverside County, CA was born on July 11, 1912, and died at age 73 years old in November 1985.

Haroldine R Hellman of Marietta, Cobb County, GA was born on November 12, 1913, and died at age 86 years old on March 23, 2000.

Sol Hellman of Brooklyn, Kings County, NY was born on December 30, 1924, and died at age 66 years old on July 2, 1991.

John I Hellman of Sugar Grove, Warren County, PA was born on April 10, 1918 in Sweden, and died at age 74 years old on February 8, 1993.