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She has been called one of the most influential female playwrights of the twentieth century; the voice of social consciousness in American letters; the theatre's intellectual standard-bearer--and yet Lillian Hellman always prided herself on avoiding easy labels. At the time of her death in 1984, the author/playwright could claim more long-running Broadway dramas--five--than could renowned American writers like Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Thornton Wilder. Ironically, though, Hellman was perhaps best remembered by a later generation of Americans for posing in a mink coat in an advertisement titled "What Becomes a Legend Most"" Pamela Monaco recognized this cult of celebrity in her essay in Dictionary of Literary Biography, noting that biographies, stage plays, and even a television movie have been created about Hellman since her death. Such interest, Monaco wrote, "at times seems to eclipse interest in her drama." However, Monaco went on to comment, "her contributions to the American stage cannot be ignored.
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