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Lillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American author of plays, screenplays and memoirs and was linked throughout her life with many left-wing political causes. Lillian Hellman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a Jewish family. Her father was Max Hellman, a New Orleans shoe salesman, and her mother was Julia Newhouse of Demopolis, Alabama. Julia Newhouse's parents were Leonard Newhouse, a Demopolis liquor dealer, and Sophie Marx, of a successful banking family. During most of her childhood she spent half of each year in New Orleans, in a boarding... MORE

Lillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American author of plays, screenplays and memoirs and was linked throughout her life with many left-wing political causes. Lillian Hellman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a Jewish family. Her father was Max Hellman, a New Orleans shoe salesman, and her mother was Julia Newhouse of Demopolis, Alabama. Julia Newhouse's parents were Leonard Newhouse, a Demopolis liquor dealer, and Sophie Marx, of a successful banking family. During most of her childhood she spent half of each year in New Orleans, in a boarding home run by her aunts, and the other half in New York City. She studied for two years at New York University and then took several courses at Columbia University. On December 31, 1925, Hellman married Arthur Kober, a playwright and press agent, though they often lived apart. In 1929, she traveled around Europe for a time and settled in Bonn to continue her education. She felt an initial attraction to a Nazi student group that advocated "a kind of socialism" until their questioning about her Jewish ties made their anti-Semitism clear, and she returned immediately to the United States. Years later she LESS