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Lillian Florence Hellman was born in New Orleans on June 20, 1905. She studied at New York University (1922-24) and Columbia University (1924), but did not earn a degree. In 1925, she began reviewing books for the New York Herald Tribune, and by 1930, she was employed as a script-reader by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood.

In the autumn of 1930, she met Dashiell Hammett with whom she would remain intimate until his death in 1961. Hammett, a mystery writer and author of The Maltese Falcon, would prove to be one of the greatest influences in Hellman's life. He reportedly suggested that she write a stage adaptation of 'The Great Drumsheugh Case, which ultimately inspired Hellman's adaptation, The Children's Hour.

Already hailed as one of the greatest playwrights of her time, Hellman was a curiosity in the largely male-dominated world of American theatre. Soon she found herself being labelled as a 'second Ibsen' or 'the American Strindberg', but there were rough waters ahead for the young playwright. Throughout her career, Hellman openly held left-wing political views and was active in the campaign against the growth of fascism in Europe. As a result of her well-known political views, she was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Pressured to reveal the names of associates in the theatre who might have Communist associations, she replied:

"To hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is, to me, inhuman and indecent and dishonorable. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions, even though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group."

As a result of her defiance, Hellman's name was added to Hollywood's blacklist and she was slapped with an unexpected and unexplainable tax bill. Even worse, her partner, Dashiell Hammett, was sentenced to prison for six months. 

Throughout her lifetime Hellman received numerous awards including the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Watch on the Rhine (1941) and Toys in the Attic (1960), Academy Award nominations for the screenplays The Little Foxes (1941) and The North Star (1943), and numerous honorary degrees from various universities. 

Excerpt from imagi-nation.com