Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was born in a hotel on the corner of Broadway and 43rd St. in New York City, a fitting start for a man who was to become one of America's greatest playwrights. He was the son of James O'Neill, one of the most popular American actors of his day. For the first seven years of Eugene's life, the O'Neill family toured with James during his stint with his successful (though artistically unimpressive) theater company.
Eugene attended Catholic boarding school and then the Betts Academy in Stamford, Connecticut. He was accepted to Princeton, but he was suspended at the end of his freshman year and decided not to return. Between 1909-12 he worked an odd assortment of jobs...