Wheee! I'm an Adopteeee!

What I'm gonna do now for a while is bring you famous people who were adopted. (There's more than you think.) But only the cool ones, obviously. My hypothesis is that adopted folks are somewhat more excellent than mere mortals, having already been given another, second life before death. I'm going to leave the psycho-killers out of this for the time being. Although they, too, are somewhat extraordinary in their own right.

First up: Edward Albee (March 12, 1928) -- playwright

Adopted at 2 weeks old in Washington DC.

Albee on adoption: "I was adopted, so I have no idea where I was born. Close to my mother, I hope."

Edward's relationship with his adoptive mother was not smooth. Frances Albee did not approve of her son's friends, hobbies or homosexuality. She wanted him to act his part in the rich, upper class society. She wanted a son who talked, dressed and insulted people in the proper and correct manner. She was sorely disappointed. Reed Albee, who was slightly younger than his wife, was a theater producer. Reed's father was part-owner in many vaudeville theaters across the United States and exposed his grandson to the artistic crowd.Edward started writing plays and had his first success in 1959 with The Zoo Story. He is better known for his play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee has won three Pulitzer Prizes for his various plays.

He has been quoted as saying that his plays discuss the "responsibility of being alive," and he has a strong disdain for entertainment that is "manufactured to turn our brains into Cream of Wheat."