John Patrick Shanley is from the Bronx. His plays include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, the dreamer examines his pillow, Four Dogs and a Bone, Beggars in the House of Plenty and Dirty Story. His trilogy Church and State began with Doubt, and continued with Defiance and Storefront Church. For his play Doubt, Mr. Shanley received both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In the arena of film, he has nine films to his credit, most recently Doubt with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis. Doubt, which he also directed, was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay. Other films include Five Corners (Special Jury Prize, Barcelona Film Festival), Alive, Joe Versus The Volcano (which he also directed) and "Live From Baghdad” for HBO (Emmy nomination). For his script of Moonstruck, he received both the Writers Guild Award and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The Writers Guild of America awarded Mr. Shanley the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award in Writing.