Playwright Edward Albee dies at the age of 88

American playwright Edward Albee has died at the age of 88.

The writer was best known for his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which first premiered on Broadway in 1962.

The play, which focuses on the breakdown of the marriage between two characters, Martha and George, shocked audiences in its depiction of an unhappy, alcoholic couple.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was adapted into a film in 1966 starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

Albee won a Tony Award for the piece, which was also selected by the drama jury for a Pulitzer, but was not awarded the prize. The Pulitzer board decided the play was not appropriate and a Pulitzer for drama was not awarded that year.

He won three Pulitzers in his lifetime, for A Delicate Balance, Seascape and Three Tall Women. In 2005 he received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement.

Albee was born in 1928 and was adopted by the son of vaudeville magnate Edward Franklin Albee II.

His most recent work was Me, Myself and I, which debuted in 2008.

The writer passed away in his sleep at his home in Montauk.