Gilbert Moses III (August 20, 1942 – April 15, 1995) was an American director. He was also known for his work in the Civil Rights movement, as a staff member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and founder of the touring company, the

Free Southern Theater The Free Southern Theater (FST) was a community theater group founded in 1963 at Tougaloo College in Madison County, Mississippi, by Gilbert Moses, Denise Nicholas, Doris Derby, and John O’Neal. The company manager was Mary Lovelace, later Cha ...

toured the South during the 1960s.

Early life

Moses was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and began acting as a child at

Karamu House Karamu House in the Fairfax neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is the oldest African-American theater in the United States opening in 1915. Many of Langston Hughes's plays were developed and premièred at the theater. ...

. He studied at Oberlin College and spent a year at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sor ...

in Paris, before leaving college to join the civil rights movement.

Career

Moses was the co-founder of the

company, an important pioneer of African-American theatre. His 1971

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut, ''

Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (Tunes from Blackness)'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, ''Brer Soul'', '' Ain't Supposed to Die ...

'', won him a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination and the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Director. In 1976, he and

George Faison George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

teamed to co-direct and

choreograph Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who ...

the ill-fated Alan Jay Lerner- Leonard Bernstein musical '' 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'', which closed after seven performances. Moses' off-Broadway work as a director won him an Obie Award for Amiri Baraka's ''Slave Ship'' (1969) and the

New York Drama Critics' Circle The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

Award for ''The Taking of Miss Janie'' (1975). Among Moses' television credits are ''

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

'', ''

Ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

'', '' The Paper Chase'', '' Law & Order'', several episodes of the mini-series ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'', and a number of

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s. His only feature films were ''

Willie Dynamite ''Willie Dynamite'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Gilbert Moses and starring Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, and was released by Universal Pictures. The eponymous Willie Dynamite is a pimp in New Yo ...

'' (1974) and ''

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh ''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh'' is a 1979 American sports/fantasy comedy film directed by Gilbert Moses and coproduced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists. The film was shot on loc ...

'' (1979).

Personal life

Moses was married three times, to actress

Denise Nicholas Denise Donna Nicholas (born July 12, 1944) is an American actress, author, and social activist. Nicholas is known primarily for her roles as high-school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series ''Room 222'' and Councilwoma ...

, Wilma Butler, and singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, and had two daughters, Tsia and China.

Death

Moses died of multiple myeloma on April 15, 1995 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was 52 years old.

References

External links

* * * *Warren, Robert Penn
Interview with Gilbert Moses and John O'Neal
c.1964 in ''Who Speaks for the Negro?'' Digital Archive of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University based on collections at University of Kentucky and Yale University Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, Gilbert 1942 births 1995 deaths African-American film directors African-American television directors American film directors American television directors American theatre directors Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from multiple myeloma Artists from Cleveland 20th-century African-American people