Armenian-American novelist, writer, and playwright, born on August 31, 1908, in Fresno, California, United States. He is best known for writing the novel The Human Comedy, which has been adapted into the 1943 film by the same name (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Story). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940. He died on May 18, 1981, in Fresno, California.