Leading dramatist of the theatre of social protest

Married Austrian actress Luise Rainer

Died of Stomach cancer

-Waiting for Lefty

-Awake and Sing

-Golden Boy

-Paradise Lost

-First performed by American Group Theater

-A plea for labor unionism

-Directed by Harold Clurman

From early 1935 on, Odets' socially relevant dramas proved extremely influential, particularly for the remainder of the Great Depression.

Odets' works inspired the next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Paddy Chayefsky, Neil Simon, David Mamet, and Jon Robin Baitz.