Anthony Chisholm, right, and Harry Lennix in the August Wilson play “Radio Golf” at the Cort Theater on Broadway in 2007. [5], Though he was a writer dedicated to writing for theater, a Hollywood studio proposed filming Wilson's play Fences. He won Pulitzer Prizes for two of them: Fences and The Piano Lesson. Throughout the 1980s, Wilson wrote the majority of his work including, Jitney (1982), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Fences (1985), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1986), and The Piano Lesson (1987). August Wilson, eigentlich Frederick August Kittel, Jr. (* 27. [1] He is best known for a series of ten plays collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. His funeral service is held at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh. Troy and Bono enter the yard, engaged in conversation. It is 1957. His iconic Century Cycle successfully tracked and synthesized the experiences of Black America in the 20th Century, using each historical decade, from 1904 to 1997, to document the physical, emotional, mental, and political strivings of Black life in the wake of emancipation.[13]. This was produced at New York's Signature Theatre and directed by Todd Kreidler, Wilson's friend and protégé. In 1959, Wilson was one of 14 African-American students at Central Catholic High School, from which he dropped out after one year. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, not far from his mother Daisy. [20] In his book, he wrote "My mother's a very strong, principled woman. They had one daughter, Sakina Ansari, born 1970. 1991 wurde er in die American Academy of Arts and Sciences und 1995 in die American Academy of Arts and Letters[1] gewählt, 2004 erhielt er einen Heinz Award. [4] Wilson was also survived by siblings Freda Ellis, Linda Jean Kittel, Donna Conley, Barbara Jean Wilson, Edwin Kittel and Richard Kittel. Wilson died of liver cancer on October 2, 2005, at the age of 60 in a Seattle hospital. [35], This article is about the late-20th-century writer. [28], In Pittsburgh, there is an August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Wilson had a long association with the Penumbra Theatre Company of St. Paul, which premiered some of his plays. Wilson later wrote under his mother's surname. Er wurde 2005 für sein Lebenswerk mit dem Anisfield-Wolf Book Award ausgezeichnet. Early Life and Education Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 27, 1945. In 1978 Wilson moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, at the suggestion of his friend, director Claude Purdy, who helped him secure a job writing educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. Er war dreimal verheiratet und verlegte seinen Lebensmittelpunkt zunächst nach Minneapolis, später nach Seattle. An Leberkrebs erkrankt, starb Wilson 60-jährig in einem Krankenhaus in Seattle. [4] Wilson's first play, Recycling, was performed for audiences in small theaters, schools and public housing community centers for 50 cents a ticket. Netflix's adaptation of August Wilson's acclaimed play "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is destined to be one of Chadwick Boseman's final screen performances. Life for Wilson and his siblings was very tough because they were biracial. [5] He had no directing experience. [4] In 1980 he received a fellowship for The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. In honor of Wilson's achievements, the Virginia Theater on Broadway was renamed the August Wilson Theater on October 17, 2005. August Wilson, who has died of inoperable liver cancer in Seattle at the age of 60, was a playwright, poet and essayist, and one of only seven American dramatists ever … This racial revolution left Wilson’s protagonist, 53-year-old former Negro league star Troy Maxson, resentful of the opportunities he was denied in his own baseball career. 14", "Denzel Washington's Fences Film Begins Shooting Today", "In the Rush to Progress, the Past Is Never Too Far Behind", "August Wilson and Black Horizon Theatre | Pitt Chronicle | University of Pittsburgh", "August Wilson, Pulitzer winning playwright: Plays", "August Wilson's 'Pittsburgh Cycle' Plays", "10 Plays, 100 Years – Playwright August Wilson Reveals the History of a Community (From the Playbill)", "August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand | Biography and Timeline | American Masters | PBS", "August Wilson's mythic character Aunt Ester explored in theater festival", "Court Theatre stages August Wilson's 'Seven Guitars, "Israel Hicks, Director of August Wilson's Cycle, Dies at 66", "The final installment of August Wilson's epic Pittsburgh Cycle premieres at the Public", "Listen to Playwright August Wilson's American Century Cycle in Its Entirety: 10 Free Plays", "State Memorializes August Wilson's Childhood Home", "Theater Is to Be Renamed for a Dying Playwright", "Visions For a New Seattle Center Being Made Public", "Newly-Renovated August Wilson Park Unveiled In Hill District", "University of Pittsburgh Library System Acquires Archive of Renowned Playwright August Wilson", "August Wilson's literary archive is coming home", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", "Saint Louis Literary Award – Saint Louis University", "Recipients of the Saint Louis Literary Award", "Theater Hall of Fame honors August Wilson, seven others", August Wilson Archives, University of Pittsburgh, NPR Intersections: August Wilson, Writing to the Blues, "August Wilson – Distinguished black American playwright who reclaimed the stories of his people", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=August_Wilson&oldid=1015942417, African-American dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights, Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1985: New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, 1988: Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, 1988: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play –, 1990: Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts and Distinguished Pennsylvania Artists, 1990: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play –, 1992: American Theatre Critics' Association Award –, 1992: New York Drama Critics Circle Citation for Best American Play –, 1996: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play –, 2000: New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play –, 2004: The U.S. The film remained unmade until 2016, when Denzel Washington directed the film Fences, starring Washington and Viola Davis. Pittsburgh Public Theater was the first theater company in Pittsburgh to produce the entire Century Cycle, including the world premiere of King Hedley II to open the O'Reilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh.[22]. The character most frequently mentioned in the cycle is Aunt Ester, a "washer of souls". In the play, the piano is used and releases spirits of the ancestors. Other themes have ranged from the systemic and historical exploitation of African Americans, as well as race relations, identity, migration, and racial discrimination. August Wilson, eigentlich Frederick August Kittel, Jr. (* 27. He was honored because he is the only person from Minnesota to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Plays in the series include, Jitney (1982), Fences (1984), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1986), The Piano Lesson (1987), King Hedley II(1999). [4], He valued Bullins and Baldwin for their honest representations of everyday life.[7]. In 2006 Wilson was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. August had 5 siblings: Thomas Michael Wilson , Mary Elizabeth (SIS) O'Brien (born Wilson) and 3 other siblings . He had not announced that he was suffering from the disease until a month before his death. Produced by August Wilson. So I went to look for a book on how to direct a play. [7], Malcolm X's voice influenced Wilson's life and work (such as The Ground on Which I Stand, 1996). August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. "For instance, in Fences they see a garbageman, a person they don't really look at, although they see a garbageman every day. Two of the Goodman's productions—Seven Guitars and Gem of the Ocean—were world premieres. His works delve into the African American experience as well as examinations of the human condition. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". [7], I think my plays offer (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans," he told The Paris Review. [21] How I Learned explores his days as a struggling young writer in Pittsburgh's Hill District and how the neighborhood and its people inspired his cycle of plays about the African-American experience.[25]. Today August Wilson would be 75 years old. Oktober 2005 in Seattle, Washington), war ein amerikanischer Dramatiker und Bühnenautor sowie zweifacher Pulitzer-Preisträger. Israel Hicks produced the entire 10-play cycle from 1990 to 2009 for the Denver Center Theatre Company. On display in the plays Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson is the relationship between father and son, a key thematic element. His mother, Daisy Wilson, was an African-American woman from North Carolina who cleaned homes for a living. Wilson knew that he wanted to be a writer, but this created tension with his mother, who wanted him to become a lawyer. Wilson died on October 2, 2005, in Seattle, Washington. "The death of August Wilson does not simply leave a hole in the American theater," Peter Marks wrote in the Washington Post, "but a huge yawning wound, one that will have to wait to be stitched closed by some expansive, poetic dramatist yet to emerge." Dieses Stück (2020 verfilmt) ist Teil einer Serie von zehn Theaterstücken, die jeweils einem Jahrzehnt des 20. In 1981 he married Judy Oliver, a social worker; they divorced in 1990. Dezember 2020 um 01:16 Uhr bearbeitet. Decades after August Wilson’s death, his legacy still lives and resonates, especially with Gen Z, as this competition doc demonstrates. Wilson was married three times. Zunächst arbeitete er als Gärtner, Tellerwäscher und Verkäufer. Two of his plays received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play. Wilson's mother divorced his father and married David Bedford in the 1950s, and the family moved from the Hill District to the then predominantly white working-class neighborhood of Hazelwood, where they encountered racial hostility; bricks were thrown through a window at their new home. Wilson believed that through art, “we are going to become an American culture” that shares similar themes and ideologies that separate American art from any other type of art in the world. Frederick August Kittel Jr. changed his name to August Wilson to honor his mother after his father's death in 1965. Nach dem Tod des Vaters (1965) nahm er den Familiennamen seiner Mutter an. When he was 20 years old, his father died and he adopted the pen name “August Wilson” as a tribute to his mother. Oktober 2005 in Seattle, Washington), war ein amerikanischer Dramatiker und Bühnenautor sowie zweifacher Pulitzer-Preisträger. ", On October 16, 2005, fourteen days after Wilson's death, the Virginia Theatre in New York City's Broadway Theater District was renamed the August Wilson Theatre. His first marriage was to Brenda Burton from 1969 to 1972. It earned Wilson a posthumous Oscar nomination. [26], The childhood home of Wilson and his six siblings, at 1727 Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh, was declared a historic landmark by the State of Pennsylvania on May 30, 2007. His third wife, costume designer Constanza Romero, three daughters (one with Romero and two with his first wife), and several siblings survived him. In 1976, Vernell Lillie, who had founded the Kuntu Repertory Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh two years earlier, directed Wilson's The Homecoming. . The Black Rep in St. Louis and the Anthony Bean Community Theater in New Orleans have also presented the complete cycle. All shows were Hawaii premieres, all were extremely successful at the box office and garnered many local theatre awards for the actors and the organization. [5], In 1968, he co-founded the Black Horizon Theater in the Hill District of Pittsburgh along with his friend Rob Penny. Like Bearden, Wilson worked with collage techniques in writing: "I try to make my plays the equal of his canvases. All my plays are rewriting that same story. No black Hamlet). At the age of 16 he began working menial jobs, where he met a wide variety of people on whom some of his later characters were based, such as Sam in The Janitor (1985), Wilson's extensive use of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh resulted in its later "awarding" him an honorary high school diploma. Birthday: April 27, 1945 [29] The theatre has run many shows, one of the most famous being Jersey Boys and now Mean Girls. She is "not literally three centuries old but a succession of folk priestesses... [s]he embodies a weighty history of tragedy and triumph". He would then gather the notes and type them up at home. April 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; † 2. In 2005, Wilson's final installment in his ten-part series The Century Cycle, titled, Radio Golf opened. Playwright August Wilson (1945 - 2005) rose from humble beginnings to become a celebrated Broadway fixture with his 10-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in … Since its invention over 150 years ago, the game has served as a powerful metaphor for the American dream, and the hopes and democratic ideals that accompany this idea. Aunt Ester is a symbolic and recurring figure that represents the African American struggle. [33][34], In 2021, the United States Postal Service honored Wilson with a Forever stamp featuring him as part of the Black Heritage series of stamps. Jackson R. Bryer, Mary E. 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