Charles Gordone
Charles Gordone was an influential American playwright, born on October 12, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Elkhart, Indiana. He identified as a black person from the predominantly white side of town and had a diverse heritage that included Indian, French, and Irish ancestry. Gordone earned a B.A. in music and drama from Los Angeles State College and served in the U.S. Air Force before moving to New York City in 1952. His most notable achievement came with his play "No Place to Be Somebody" (1969), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970, making him the first African American to receive this honor. Throughout his career, he aimed to address universal themes rather than solely focusing on race, despite often being categorized within that context.
In addition to his writing, Gordone was a dedicated educator and activist, working towards greater integration in the theater community and serving on various committees related to civil rights. He held several teaching and directing positions, including directing the Cell Block Theater Program in New Jersey and serving as a lecturer at Texas A&M University. Gordone's unique personal style and larger-than-life personality left a lasting impact on his students and the broader theatrical community. He received numerous accolades throughout his career, including multiple Drama Desk Awards and an NAACP Image Award, and remained active in the arts and activism until his passing from liver cancer in 1995.
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Subject Terms
Charles Gordone
Playwright
- Born: October 12, 1925
- Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
- Died: November 17, 1995
- Place of death: College Station, Texas
Biography
Charles Gordone was born on October 12, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised in Elkhart, Indiana. He liked to say that he was considered a black person from the white side of town, though he was also of Indian, French, and Irish derivation. Throughout his life, his interest in being considered as a person, as an American, and as a writer—and not as an African American or as an American writing about African American issues—figured heavily in his endeavors and writing
He studied music and drama and earned a B.A. from Los Angeles State College in 1952. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he worked at a number of jobs, among them as a detective and a calypso singer. In 1952, he moved to New York City, but since acting jobs were scarce, he supplemented his income as a waiter at Johnny Romero’s in Greenwich Village. There he garnered enough material to write a play about bar life, No Place to Be Somebody (1969), which earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1970. He was the first African American to receive the honor. The response to this work was so overwhelmingly positive that some people worried he would have no where to go. Theatrically speaking, their concerns were valid. Though he always sought to write about universal issues (rather than race-specific issues), and though he claimed that his works were not intended to be political or preachy, he never again reached that high a caliber.
Gordone had four children from three relationships. His first marriage was to Juanita Barton, whom he married in 1947. They were later divorced, and Gordone lived with his partner Jeanne Warner from 1959 until 1973. He married Susan Kouyomjian in 1987. In addition to holding artist and instructor posts across the country, he directed the Cell Block Theater Program in the New Jersey State Prison System (1979), was director in residence at the American Stage Theater in Berkeley, California, from 1982 to 1985, and was a distinguished lecturer in the department of speech communication and theater arts at Texas A&M from 1987 to 1995.
Though insisting that he espoused the human cause, not the cause of any race, he worked toward further integrating the acting profession, first cofounding the Committee for the Employment of Negro Performers and then serving as its chairman under of the Congress On Racial Equality in the 1960’s. In 1968, he was appointed to the Presidential Committee on Civil Disorders. Always theatrical in dress and demeanor, he often sported large, broad hats and love beads. His colorful attire reflected his larger-than-life attitude. His students loved him, as evidenced by the tributes paid at the numerous memorials that were held across the country when he died. Gordone inspired and, apparently, changed lives, though he was often brutally honest about student work. Somehow, his charges seemed to understand that his comments were made in their best interest.
Gordone garnered many awards. In addition to his Pulitzer, he won an Obie (1953); the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1970 and 1971); the Drama Desk Award (1970); the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Image Award (1971); a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fellowship (1979); and a D. H. Lawrence Fellowship (1987). He continued to be a political and social activist, actor, director, producer, and teacher until his death from liver cancer in 1995.