David Rabe

Highest Rated: 83% Casualties of War (1989)

Lowest Rated: 33% I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982)

Birthday: Mar 10, 1940

Birthplace: Dubuque, Iowa, USA

This celebrated American playwright utilized his background as a medical corpsman during the Vietnam War to pen three plays about that period: "Sticks and Bones" (Off-Broadway, 1971, Broadway 1972), "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" (Off-Broadway 1971) and "Streamers" (Off-Broadway 1976). David Rabe won a Tony for "Sticks and Bones" and "Pavlo Hummel" became a more recognized piece when Al Pacino starred in a 1977 Broadway revival. "Streamers," about life in an army barracks at the outset of the Vietnam War, found a wider audience in Robert Altman's 1983 film version which Rabe scripted.