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Charles Fuller, Playwright born

Charles Fuller

*Charles Fuller was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black playwright.

From Philadelphia, Fuller is the son of Charles H., a printer, and Lillian (Anderson) Fuller. From 1956-1958, young Fuller attended Villanova University, and from 1965-1968, LaSalle College where he earned a D.F.A.

Fuller also co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia in 1967.  The Perfect Party (1969) was the first of Fuller's plays to receive critical acclaim. Zooman and the Sign won an Obie Award in 1980. A Soldier's Play, about a murder on a Louisiana military base, won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was adapted into a film, A Soldier's Story, in 1984.

In 1989, he presented his plays Sally and Prince, Under the Umbrella, and We. One year later, he completed his drama, Jonquil, which opened to poor reviews. In 2010 he published his first novel, Snatch The Adventures of David and Me, a children's fiction written for his two sons.

On October 4, 2022, Charles Fuller, the acclaimed playwright and Pulitzer winner, died. He was 83.

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