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Civil Rights Dramas
{{More footnotes needed, date=September 2023 From the end of the Second World War to the beginning of the McCarthy era (1945–1950), the American professional theatre produced twenty shows on civil rights, nine of them on Broadway. Off-Broadway and out of town shows displayed a wider array of moral stances, ranging from gentle persuasion of ''Florence'' (1949) by Alice Childress and the religious fervor of ''Trial by Fire (play), Trial by Fire'' (1947) by George Dunne (priest), George Dunne to the activism of ''Earth and Stars'' (1946) by Randolph Edmonds. While musicals dominated commercial theatre in the 1940s, four dramas about African Americans addressed the nation's racial dilemma. The first, Richard Wright (author), Richard Wright's, ''Native Son (play), Native Son'' (1941), opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway on 24 March 1941. Wright's novel had firmly laid the responsibility for Bigger's brutality on the doorstep of white America, but in adapting the novel to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edna Lewis Thomas
Edna Lewis Thomas (November 1, 1885 – July 22, 1974) was an American stage actress whose career began in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. She appeared on Broadway, with the Lafayette Players theater company, and in productions by the Federal Theater Project of the Works Progress Administration. Her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' all-Black "Voodoo" ''Macbeth'' in 1936 was much acclaimed. She was an influential figure in Black theater, and was a member of the Alhambra Players and the Harlem Experimental Theatre. She only appeared on screen once, in the 1951 film '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. Thomas was born in Virginia and raised in Boston. After moving to New York around 1916, she worked as a social secretary for the beauty entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker. Though she was married to Lloyd Thomas, she started a long-term romantic relationship with British socialite Olivia Wyndham around 1930 and the three lived together for many years in a Harlem c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the Negro was in vogue", which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue." Growing up in a series of Midwestern towns, Hughes became a prolific writer at an early age. He moved to New York City as a young man, where he made his career. He graduated from high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and soon began studies at Columbia University in New York City. Although he dropped out, he gained notice from New York publishers, first in ''The Crisis'' magazine and then from book publishers, and became known in the creative community in Harlem. He eventually graduated from Lincoln University. In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote plays and short sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxine Wood
Maxine Finsterwald (1906 – April 7, 1993) wrote radio scripts, plays, short stories, and newspaper features in the United States. She sometimes used the pen name Maxine Wood. Early life and career She was born Maxine Flora Finsterwald in Marion, Wisconsin, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Finsterwald were her parents. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She studied at Wellesley, Cornell, and Carnegie Institute. She wrote radio scripts for '' Kaffee Klatch'' and '' Playhouse of the Air'' before moving to New York City. Her play ''Giants in Chains'' won the Otto H. Kahn prize in 1928. Her play ''On Whitman Avenue'' was staged in Buffalo and then on Broadway in 1946. It addressed relations between African Americans and whites. Canada Lee was an actor and a producer for the show and Margo Jones directed. She was a supporter of a proposed Conference on Civil and Human Rights organized in the wake of jailings of Communist Party organizers in the United States. Carnegie Mellon University has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margo Jones
Margo Jones (December 12, 1911 – July 24, 1955), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", was an American Theatre director, stage director and Theatrical producer, producer, best known for launching the American regional theater movement and for introducing the theatre in the round, theater-in-the-round concept in Dallas, Texas. In 1947, she established the first regional professional company when she opened Theatre '47 in Dallas. Of the 85 plays Jones staged during her Dallas career, 57 were new, and one-third of those new plays had a continued life on stage, television, and radio. Jones played an important role in the early careers of a range of playwrights, such as Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Joseph Hayes (author), Joseph Hayes, Jerome Lawrence, and Robert E. Lee (playwright), Robert E. Lee. Early career Born Margaret Virginia Jones in Livingston, Texas, Jones worked in community and professional theaters in California, Houston, and New York City. "Since 1936, Margo Jones had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Morell
Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Culture * Peter (actor) (born 1952), stage name Shinnosuke Ikehata, Japanese dancer and actor * ''Peter'' (album), a 1993 EP by Canadian band Eric's Trip * ''Peter'' (1934 film), a 1934 film directed by Henry Koster * ''Peter'' (2021 film), Marathi language film * "Peter" (''Fringe'' episode), an episode of the television series ''Fringe'' * ''Peter'' (novel), a 1908 book by Francis Hopkinson Smith * "Peter" (short story), an 1892 short story by Willa Cather Animals * Peter, the Lord's cat, cat at Lord's Cricket Ground in London * Peter (chief mouser), Chief Mouser between 1929 and 1946 * Peter II (cat), Chief Mouser between 1946 and 1947 * Peter III (cat), Chief Mouser betwee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustus Smith (actor)
J. Augustus Smith, also known as Gus Smith (born January 14, 1891), was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. In 1936 he was one of three theatre artists who succeeded John Houseman in leading the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project in New York City. Biography Smith was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1891. He made his stage debut during childhood, playing in minstrel shows. In 1911, Smith formed his own minstrel company, with which he toured the United States. He went on to have a career in acting and writing for theatre and film. Smith wrote and appeared in ''Drums O' Voodoo'' (1934). The film was based on his play ''Louisiana'', which premiered in 1933 on Broadway, starring Smith. The stage production featured an all-Black cast, members of the New Negro Repertory Theater Group, founded by Smith. The cast members reprised their roles for the film. Smith co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in ''Turpentine'', a play about conditions in turpenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbie Mitchell
__NOTOC__ Abriea "Abbie" Mitchell Cook (25 September 1884 – 16 March 1960), also billed as Abbey Mitchell, was an American soprano opera singer. She performed the role of Clara in the premiere production of George Gershwin's ''Porgy and Bess'' in 1935, and was also the first to record " Summertime" from that musical. Biography Mitchell was the mixed-race daughter of an African-American mother and a Jewish-German father from New York City's Lower East Side.D. C. Hine, ed., ''Black Women in America, An Historical Encyclopedia''. Carlson Publishing Inc., 1993. . She was reared by a maternal aunt, Alice Payne, in Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended a Catholic convent school.Abbie Mitchell , in ''Notable Black American Women'', Book 1. Gale Research, 1992. Mitchell never completed her formal schooling in Baltimore. Following the dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving first lady of the United States. Roosevelt served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952, and in 1948 she was given a standing ovation by the assembly upon their adoption of the Universal Declaration. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements. Roosevelt was a member of the prominent American Roosevelt and Livingston families and a niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. She had an unhappy childhood, having suffered the deaths of both parents and one of her brothers at a young age. At 15, she attended Allenswood Boarding Academy in London and was deeply influenced by its hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Earl Jones
Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and professional boxer. One of the first prominent Black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. Jones was best known for his leading roles in films such as ''Lying Lips'' (1939) and later in his career for supporting roles in films such as ''The Sting'' (1973), ''Trading Places'' (1983), '' The Cotton Club'' (1984), and ''Witness'' (1985). He was the father of actor James Earl Jones. Biography Early life Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi; the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia, while others suggest nearby Coldwater. A son of Robert and Elnora Jones, Robert Earl Jones left school at an early age to work as a sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Carter
Dorothy Carter (born New York City, 1935, died June 7, 2003 in New Orleans) was an American musician.Billboard - 1998 8 8 " ... in Berlin in 1996. While there, she hooked up with MEDIAEVAL BAEBES Dorothy Carter, an older woman ..." Carter performed contemporary, folk, traditional, medieval, and experimental music with a large collection of stringed instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, zither, psaltery, and hurdy-gurdy. She is regarded as an important figure in the genres of psychedelic folk music and medieval music revival. Biography Carter studied classical piano at age six. She later attended Bard College in New York, the London Royal Academy, and Guildhall School of Music in France. In the early 1970s, Carter was a member of the Central Maine Power Music Company with Robert Rutman and Constance Demby. She moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where she continued to collaborate with Rutman, who played his sound sculptures on her second album. She regularly played concerts wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Renard
Ken Renard (1905-1993) was an actor in the United States. He had roles in '' Strange Fruit'' on stage in 1945, the film ''True Grit'' (1969) and the television series ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' (1950–1957). He was born on November 19, 1905 in Port of Spain, Trinidad as Kenneth Fitzroy Renwick. He died on November 16, 1993 in Los Angeles County, California. He portrayed Toussaint Louverture in the film ''Lydia Bailey''. He appeared on the television show '' The Name of the Game'' (1968). Filmography Film *''Sugar Hill Baby'' (1932? 1938?) *''Murder with Music'' (1941) as Bill Smith, using parts of the film ''Mistaken Identity *'' Killer Diller'' (1948) as The Great Voodoo *''Lydia Bailey'' (1952) as Toussaint L'Ouverture (uncredited) *''Something of Value'' (1957) as Karanja, father of Kimani *''These Thousand Hills'' (1959) as Happy, the waiter (uncredited) *'' Home From the Hill'' (1960) as Chauncey (Hunnicutt butler) *''Papa's Delicate Condition'' (1963) as Walter *'' The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
