Samuel Beckett

**Samuel Barclay Beckett** (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. Becket wrote novels, plays and poetry. He also translated other famous works of literature. He was given the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

His best-known play is _Waiting For Godot_. It has often been acted on stage and on TV.

Beckett was stabbed in Paris in 1938.

He died of breathing problems in Paris in 1989.

Many writers of plays (playwrights) and others think he is one of the most important writers of the 20th century. There have been many books written about him.

His books are often about people going through hard times and seeing life as both sad and funny.

## Works

**Theatre**
- _Human Wishes_ (c. 1936; published 1984)
- _Eleutheria_ (written 1947 in French; published in French 1995, and English 1996)
- _En attendant Godot_ (published 1952, performed 1953) (_Waiting for Godot_, pub. 1954, perf. 1955)
- _Acte sans Paroles I_ (1956); _Act Without Words I_ (1957)
- _Acte sans Paroles II_ (1956); _Act Without Words II_ (1957)
- _Fin de partie_ (published 1957); _Endgame_ (published 1957)
- _Krapp's Last Tape_ (first performed 1958)
- _Fragment de théâtre I_ (late 1950s); _Rough for Theatre I_
- _Fragment de théâtre II_ (late 1950s); _Rough for Theatre II_
- _Happy Days_ (first performed 1961); _Oh les beaux jours_ (published 1963)
- _Play_ (performed in German, as _Spiel_, 1963; English version 1964)
- _Come and Go_ (first performed in German, then English, 1966)
- _Breath_ (first performed 1969)
- _Not I_ (first performed 1972)
- _That Time_ (first performed 1976)
- _Footfalls_ (first performed 1976)
- _Neither_ (1977) (An "opera", music by Morton Feldman)
- _A Piece of Monologue_ (first performed 1979)
- _Rockaby_ (first performed 1981)
- _Ohio Impromptu_ (first performed 1981)
- _Catastrophe_ (_Catastrophe et autres dramatiques_, first performed 1982)
- _What Where_ (first performed 1983)

**Radio**
- _All That Fall_ (broadcast 1957)
- _From an Abandoned Work_ (broadcast 1957)
- _Embers_ (broadcast 1959)
- _Rough for Radio I_ (published 1976) (written in French in 1961 as _Esquisse radiophonique_)
- _Rough for Radio II_ (published 1976) (written in French in 1961 as _Pochade radiophonique_)
- _Words and Music_ (broadcast 1962)
- _Cascando_ (broadcast:1963 French version; 1964 English translation)

**Television**
- _Eh Joe_ with Jack MacGowran (broadcast 1966)
- _Beginning To End_ with Jack MacGowran (1965)
- _Ghost Trio_ (broadcast 1977)
- _... but the clouds..._ (broadcast 1977)
- _Quad I + II_ (broadcast 1981)
- _Nacht und Träume_ (broadcast 1983); _Night and Dreams_, published 1984
- _Beckett Directs Beckett_ (1988–92)

**Cinema**
- _Film_ (1965)

## Infobox (writer)

- **image**: Samuel Beckett, Pic, 1 (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Beckett in 1977
- **birth name**: Samuel Barclay Beckett
- **birth place**: Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland
- **death place**: Paris, France
- **occupation**: Novelist, playwright, poet, theatre director, essayist, literary translator
- **years active**: 1929–1989
- **nationality**: Irish
- **genre**: Drama, fiction, poetry, screenplays, personal correspondence
- **alma mater**: Trinity College Dublin
- **notableworks**: _Murphy (novel), Murphy_ (1938)
_Molloy (novel), Molloy_ (1951)
_Malone Dies_ (1951)
_The Unnamable (novel), The Unnamable_ (1953)
_Waiting for Godot_ (1953)
_Watt (novel), Watt_ (1953)
_Endgame (play), Endgame_ (1957)
_Krapp's Last Tape_ (1958)
_How It Is_  (1960)
_Happy Days (play) (1960)
_
- **spouse**: Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil (1961–1989; her death)
- **signature**: Samuel Beckett signature.svg