Oscar Wilde was an Irish author, playwright, and poet. After writing in different forms, he became one of London's most popular playwrights.

Broadway successes include Lady Windermere’s Fan (Palmer's Theatre), A Woman of No Importance (Miner's Fifth Avenue Theatre), An Ideal Husband (Lyceum Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Empire Theatre), Salomé—which was refused a license in England but was later published in France (Frazee Theatre). Other works include the Off-Broadway plays Ernest in Love (Gramercy Arts Theatre) and The Happy Prince and The Birthday of the Infanta (Lucille Lortelle Theatre) and regionally, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories (Tred Avon Players) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Knightsbridge Theatre).

Wilde brought a libel action against the Marquess of Queensberry, but he lost the case and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labor. As a result of the experience, he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol.