Alice Childress

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Alice Childress (born October 12, 1916 in Charleston, South Carolina, died August 14, 1994) was an American playwright and author.

Childress was born in South Carolina, but at age nine, after her parents separated, she moved to Harlem where she lived with her grandmother. In the 1940's, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous productions, and moved to broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950. She was the first black woman to have a play produced professionally, and is also the first woman to win an OBIE award

1 Awards
2 Major works
- 2.1 Plays
- 2.2 Novels
3 References
4 Extra

[edit] Awards

Paul Robeson Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Performing Arts
Obie Award (for Trouble in Mind)
ALA Best Young Adult Book of 1975 (for A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich)
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (for A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich)
Jane Addams Award for a young adult novel (for A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich)
Honorable Mention, Coretta Scott King Award, 1982

[edit] Major works

[edit] Plays

Florence (1949)
Just a Little Simple (1950)
Gold Through the Trees (1952)
Trouble in Mind (1955)
Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White (1966)
String (1969)
Wine in the Wilderness (1969)
Mojo: A Black Love Story (1970)
Sea Island Song (1977)
Moms: A Praise Play for a Black Comedienne (1987)

[edit] Novels

Like one of the family (1956)
A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973) which became a film of the same title in 1978.
A Short Walk (1979)
Rainbow Jordan (1981)
Those Other People (1989)

[edit] References

[edit] Extra

The song "Alice Childress" by Ben Folds Five is not related to her, it is a coincidence that there was a woman with the same name that poured water on Ben Folds' wife at the time, Anna Goodman.