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Sunday July 6th 2008 |
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Sunday July 6th 2008 |
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October 12
From Charleston, South Carolina, Childress grew up in Harlem, New York City, where she studied drama with the American Negro Theater in the 1940s. There she wrote, directed, and starred in her first play, Florence (1949), a dramatic piece about a black woman who, after meeting an insensitive white actress in a railway station, comes to respect her daughter's attempts to pursue an acting career. Other Childress theatric offerings included Trouble in Mind (produced 1955, 1956 Obie award for best original Off-Broadway play; revised and published 1971)., Wedding Band (1966), String (1969), and Wine in the Wilderness (1969). All examine racial and social issues. Among Childress' plays that feature music are Just a Little Simple (1950); based on Langston Hughes's Simple Speaks His Mind, Gold Through the (1952), The African Garden (1971), Gullah (1984); based on her 1977 play Sea Island Song, and Moms (1987); about the life of comedienne Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Childress was also a successful writer of children's literature. A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973; film 1978) is a novel for adolescents about a teenage drug addict. Similarly, the novel Rainbow Jordan (1981) concerns the struggles of poor black urban youth. Also written for juveniles were the plays When the Rattlesnake Sounds (1975) and Let's Hear It for the Queen (1976). Her other novels include A Short Walk (1979), Many Closets (1987), and Those Other People (1989). Childress also lectured at Fisk University and Radcliffe. She was known for her realistic stories about the lasting optimism of Black Americans. Alice Childress died in 1994, in New York City. Reference: Black Women in America An Historical Encyclopedia Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Darlene Clark Hine Copyright 1993, Carlson Publishing Inc., Brooklyn, New York ISBN 0-926019-61-9 to be a Writer
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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