Charles Gordone
| Charles Gordone | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Charles Edward Fleming October 12, 1925 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 1995 (aged 70) College Station, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, director, playwright, producer, educator |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Los Angeles City College UC Los Angeles CSU, Los Angeles Columbia University New York University |
| Spouse | Jeanne Warner-Gordone |
| Information | |
| Debut works | A Little More Light Around the Place (1964) |
| Magnum opus | No Place to be Somebody (1967) |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1970) |
Charles Gordone (October 12, 1925 – November 16, 1995) was an American playwright, actor, director, and educator. He 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.
Born Charles Edward Fleming in Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles and Camille (née Morgan) Fleming, of African-American, Native American, and European heritage. With his brothers Jack and Stanley and his sister Shirley, he grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, where he attended Elkhart High School. Camille Fleming remarried William L. Gordon and later had Gordone's sister Leah Geraldine.
In his twenties, Gordone served in the U.S. Air Force and, afterwards, moved to California, where he soon married his first wife Juanita Barton in 1948. Together, they had two children: Stephen Gordone and Judy Ann Riser. Later, the couple parted ways and Barton ensconced himself in theater at Los Angeles City College and California State University, Los Angeles. He then moved to New York City, where he waited tables and pursued an acting career.
In the late 1950s, Charles met his second wife Jeanne Warner in Greenwich Village, New York City, where he settled. In the 1960s, they had one child together (Leah-Carla Gordone). During the '60s revolution, "open marriages" were common, and Charles met artist Nancy Meadows. 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 (a famous '60s hippie communal/caravan group who coordinated light shows for major concerts around the nation, including the first Woodstock Concert).
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