Lonne Elder III
| Lonne Elder III | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 26, 1927 Americus, Georgia, United States |
| Died | June 11, 1996 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actor, playwright, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1955–96 |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Gross, 1963–67 (divorced) Judyann Elder, 1969–94 (divorced) |
| Children | David Elder, Christian Elder, Loni Elder |
| Parent(s) | Quincy Elder, Lonne Elder II |
Lonne Elder III (December 26, 1927 – June 11, 1996) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Elder was one of the leading African American figures who aggressively informed the New York theater world with social and political consciousness. He also wrote scripts for television and film. His most well known play, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men won him a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The play, which was about a Harlem barber and his family, was produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1969.
In 1973, Elder and Suzanne de Passe became the first African Americans to be nominated for the Academy Award in writing. Elder received the Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for the movie Sounder, starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, and Kevin Hooks and directed by Martin Ritt.
Born in Americus, Georgia, to Lonne Elder II and Quincy Elder, Elder grew up in impoverished conditions during the Great Depression. As a small child, he was encouraged to read by his mother and storytelling often occupied his mind. In an interview with Liz Gant in Black World:
“Actually, I first started writing when I was about six or seven years old, though not with the idea of being a "writer". I don’t think I even knew what a writer was. I just liked the idea of writing to myself; it was a way of expressing feelings that I didn’t know how to express in other ways, like talking. There was no one to whom I could convey those kind of thoughts and emotions in the environment I grew up in."
Due to tragic circumstances, Elder was orphaned at a young age. His aunt and uncle in Jersey City, New Jersey continued his upbringing, along with that of his four siblings. His uncle was a numbers runner, and Elder followed him on his rounds, collecting betting slips. Elder completed his formal education and attended New Jersey State Teachers’ College in Trenton in 1949, but dropped out before the end of his freshman year. He then moved to New York’s Harlem neighborhood, took classes at the New School for Social Research, and became involved in the growing civil rights movement. In 1952 Elder was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served for two years.
...
Wikipedia