August Wilson

Born Frederick August Kittel in 1945, August Wilson was one of six children. His father was a German immigrant baker. Wilson left high school and briefly served in the Army before taking on various menial jobs. A self-educated individual, he adopted the name August Wilson in 1965 following his father's death, the same year he began writing poetry. In 1968, he cofounded Pittsburgh's Black Horizon Theater, where he wrote "Jitney," a play that would later become part of his renowned 10-play cycle after two revisions. His move to Minnesota in 1978 led to a writing position at the Science Museum in St. Paul and a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwrights Center, during which his Pittsburgh upbringing became a central theme, with the city serving as the setting for nine of his ten plays.Wilson's career gained significant momentum in 1982 when his play "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" was accepted by the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. There, he met Lloyd Richards, who became a pivotal figure, directing six of Wilson's plays on Broadway. "Ma Rainey" opened on Broadway in 1984, and by 1987, with the debut of "Fences" starring James Earl Jones, Wilson had firmly established himself as a major voice in American theater. He received Pulitzer Prizes for "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson," a Tony Award for "Fences," and set a new record by winning seven New York Drama Critics' Circle prizes. Wilson was married three times and had two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen. He passed away from liver cancer at the age of 60 on October 2, 2005, in Seattle, Washington, with his final play, "Radio Golf," still in performance. Following his death, the Virginia Theatre on Broadway was renamed in his honor as the August Wilson Theatre.