Born: 26 September 1888 · Died: 4 January 1965 · Age at death: 76
How old was T. S. Eliot when he died?
T. S. Eliot died aged 76. He was born on 26 September 1888 and died on 4 January 1965.
American-born British poet of The Waste Land and Four Quartets, whose cat poems inspired the musical Cats, and a Nobel laureate
Did you know?Aside from his poetry, he worked as a bank clerk and later as a director for the publishing house Faber and Faber.
Quick facts
Date of birth26 September 1888
Date of death4 January 1965
Age at death76
Cause of deathPulmonary emphysema
NationalityAmerican-born British
BirthplaceSt. Louis, United States
Occupationplaywright, poet, essayist
Editor's Take:
Eliot changed the sound of modern poetry. His work was fragmented, allusive and full of voices, capturing the disorientation of life after the First World War. The Waste Land became the defining poem of its age and still challenges readers today. He was also a powerful critic and editor who shaped literary taste for decades. And, unexpectedly, his playful cat poems became one of the most successful musicals ever staged.
Key Milestones
1915: Prufrock – breakthrough poem
1922: The Waste Land – modernist landmark
1927: British citizen – joins the Church of England
1935: Murder in the Cathedral – verse drama
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright. He was a leading figure of modernist poetry in the English language where he altered the art through his use of pessimistic language, writing style, and verse structure.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri, on 26 September 1888.
He settled in England in his twenties and became a British citizen in 1927. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land made him the leading voice of modernist poetry.
He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Career highlights
1915Prufrock: breakthrough poem
1922The Waste Land: modernist landmark
1927British citizen: joins the Church of England
1935Murder in the Cathedral: verse drama
1943Four Quartets: late masterpiece
1948Nobel Prize: literature
Did you know?His playful cat poems, collected in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, became the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats.
