Rose Williams; Sister of Playwright Tennessee Williams

Rose Williams, 87, sister of playwright Tennessee Williams and the model for his heroine in “The Glass Menagerie.” In the late 1930s, she underwent a prefrontal lobotomy to cure a worsening case of schizophrenia. The operation failed, and she was institutionalized for the rest of her life. Profoundly affected by the tragedy, the writer considered her his muse and inspiration. At his death in 1983, he bequeathed his estate to her care. With her death, the rights to Williams’ plays and the remainder of his estate (worth about $7 million) will go to a secondary beneficiary, the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn. On Wednesday in Tarrytown, N.Y.