Charlie Louis Russell, Jr. (March 10, 1932 – June 28, 2013) was an American writer, best known for his play, ''

Five on the Black Hand Side ''Five on the Black Hand Side'' is a 1973 African American comedy film based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Los Angeles, California. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven ...

'', which was later made into an acclaimed motion picture.

Biography

Charlie L. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the eldest of two children of Charlie, Sr. and Katie Russell. His father moved to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, in 1942 and became a shipyard worker. The family was reunited with the father a year later. Charlie and his younger brother, basketball legend

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...

, attended local Oakland schools. Charlie graduated from Oakland Technical High. His interest in writing was sparked while he was a student at

Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. Santa Rosa Junior College was modeled as a feeder school for the Universi ...

. After serving in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

with the U.S. Army, Russell earned a B.S. in English from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

in 1959. He was also a member of the Dons 1956–57 and 1957–58 basketball teams. Russell was a member of the

Harlem Writers Guild Harlem Writers Guild (HWG) is the oldest organization of African-American writers, originally established as the Harlem Writers Club in 1950 by John Oliver Killens, Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Willard Moore and Walter Christmas. The Harlem Writ ...

. Russell wrote the play ''Five on the Black Hand Side'', first performed Off Broadway in January 1970. He later adapted the play into a film, which was released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

in 1973. While not a box-office hit, the film was highly praised and established a cult following. It received an NAACP Image Award for best screenplay. ''Ebony'' magazine also recognized ''Five on the Black Hand Side'' as one of the 10 best

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

films of all time. In the early 1970s, Russell served as writer in residence at

Barbara Ann Teer Barbara Ann Teer (June 18, 1937 – July 21, 2008) was an American writer, producer, teacher, actress and social visionary. In 1968, she founded Harlem's National Black Theatre, the first revenue-generating black theater arts complex in the U.S. ...

National Black Theatre The National Black Theatre is a non-profit cultural and educational corporation, and community-based theatre company located on 5th Avenue in Harlem, New York. History The National Black Theatre (NBT) is a non-profit cultural and educational ...

(NBT) in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. At the NBT, Russell cowrote the play ''Organize!'' with Teer. Russell's other works include the novella ''A Birthday Present for Katheryn Kenyatta'' and "Quietus," a short story published in Langston Hughes' ''Best Negro Short Stories.'' His play ''Relaxin' at Camarillo'' told the story of legendary saxophonist

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

's stay in a mental institution. Other plays included ''The Incident at Terminal Ecstasy Acres'' and ''In White America''. Russell's novel ''The Worthy Ones'' was published by Jukebox Press in 2002. Rusell was married twice, and had a child from each marriage. Russell resided in Oakland until his death on June 28, 2013, after a battle with

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Charlie L. 1932 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights New York University alumni University of California, San Diego alumni University of San Francisco alumni People from Monroe, Louisiana Writers from Oakland, California Military personnel from California 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American people