Louis Sheaffer (néSlung October 18, 1912 – August 7, 1993) was an American journalist for theBrooklyn Eagle between 1934 and 1955. After the newspaper's closure in 1955, Sheaffer wrote a two part biography onEugene O'Neill and released the first volumeO'Neill: Son and Playwright in 1968. The final part of Sheaffer's biography on O'Neill, titledO'Neill: Son and Artist, was awarded the 1974Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and nominated for the 1974National Book Award for Biography. Apart from the Pulitzer Prize, Sheaffer was a three-timeGuggenheim Fellowship recipient and received over ten fellowships fromMacDowell.
On October 18, 1912, Louis Sheaffer Slung was born inLouisville, Kentucky. He briefly went to theUniversity of North Carolina for his post-secondary education in the early 1930s.[1]
In 1934, Sheaffer began his career with theBrooklyn Eagle as anewspaper journalist. He joined theUnited States Army during World War II and resumed his tenure with the Eagle in 1946. Later on, Sheaffer was named the newspaper's film critic in 1947 and theater critic in 1949. Sheaffer remained with theBrooklyn Eagle as a theatre critic until the newspaper's closure in 1955. After leaving the newspaper, Sheaffer moved to theCircle in the Square Theatre and worked as apress agent for a year.[2][3]
In 1956, Sheaffer started writing a two-part biography on playwrightEugene O'Neill. Sheaffer released the first part of his O'Neill biography,O'Neill: Son and Playwright, in 1968 and followed up with the second part, titledO'Neill: Son and Artist, in 1973.[4] The following year,O'Neill: Son and Artist was awarded the 1974Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.[5]
Studying theater arts, Sheaffer received his firstGuggenheim Fellowship in 1959 and received additional fellowships in 1962 and 1969.[6] In 1974, Sheaffer was nominated for theNational Book Award for Biography forO'Neill: Son and Artist.[7] FromMacDowell, Sheaffer received over ten fellowships between 1970 and 1988.[8]
Sheaffer died fromheart failure inLong Island College Hospital on August 7, 1993.[9]
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