1. Charles Edward Gordone was an American playwright, actor, director, and educator.
10 Facts About Charles Gordone
1. 2.
Charles Gordone was the first African American to win the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama and he devoted much of his professional life to the pursuit of multi-racial American theater and racial unity.
3.
Charles Gordone grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, with two brothers, Jack and Stanley, and a sister, Shirley.
4.
Charles Gordone then moved to New York City, where he waited tables and pursued an acting career.
5.
Together they had a son, David Brent Gordone, yet Charles Gordone remained with Jeanne Warner raising their daughter Leah-Carla in New York City over the years while Nancy Meadows left her position with the Washington Post and traveled around with her son David as a member of Wavy Gravy's Hog Farm.
6.
Charles Gordone co-founded both the Committee for the Employment of Negro Performers and the Vantage Theater in Queens.
7.
In 1987, Charles Gordone appeared in the movie Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet and Robert De Niro.
8.
Charles Gordone assisted with the casting of the '60s feature film Nothing But a Man, starring Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, and Julius Harris.
9.
In 1981, Charles Gordone moved back to California, where he met his last wife and leading lady Susan Kouyomjian in Berkeley.
10.
Charles Gordone worked with Kouyomjian for three years at her theater, American Stage.