Charles Fuller

For other people named Charles Fuller, seeCharles Fuller (disambiguation).

Charles Fuller
Born	(1939-03-05)March 5, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Died	October 3, 2022(2022-10-03)(aged 83) Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Education	Villanova University La Salle University
Notable awards	Pulitzer Prize for Drama(1982) Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (2020)
Spouse	Miriam Nesbitt ​ ​ (m.1962;died 2006)​ Claire Prieto ​ (m.2008)​
Children	2

Charles H. Fuller Jr.(March 5, 1939 – October 3, 2022) was an American playwright, best known for his playA Soldier's Play,for which he received the 1982Pulitzer Prize for Dramaand the 2020Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Early life

Fuller was born inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,on March 5, 1939, the son of Charles H. Fuller, Sr. and Lillian Anderson. Raised Roman Catholic, he attendedRoman Catholic High Schooland thenVillanova University(1956–1958), then joined theU.S. Armyin 1959, serving in Japan and South Korea.He left the military in 1962, and later studied atLa Salle University(1965–1967), earning aDFA.Furthermore, he co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia.

Career

Fuller vowed to become a writer after noticing that his high school's library had no books by African-American authors. He achieved critical notice in 1969 withThe Village: A Party,a drama about racial tensions between a group of mixed-race couples.He later wrote plays for theHenry Street Settlementtheatre and theNegro Ensemble CompanyinNew York City,which have performed several of his plays. His 1975 play,The Brownsville Raid,is based on theBrownsville affair,an altercation between black soldiers and white civilians inBrownsville, Texas,in 1906, which led to an entire black regiment being dishonorably discharged, though later pardoned in 1976.

Fuller won anObie AwardforZooman and the Signin 1980, about a black Philadelphia teen who kills a young girl on her own front porch, and whose neighbors eventually rise up against him after being goaded out of their apathy by the girl's father with a sign. Zooman presents himself as a helpless product of his society, but his victim's father convinces their neighbors that they need to stand together and achieve justice.

Fuller's next work,A Soldier's Play,told the story of the racially charged search by a black captain for the murderer of a black sergeant on aLouisianaarmy base in 1944, as a means to discuss the position of blacks in white society. Although the play enjoyed a long run, Fuller said it never played onBroadwaybecause he refused to drop the last line, "You'll have to get used to black people being in charge." It was nevertheless a critical success, winning Fuller aPulitzer Prizein 1982, and being produced as the 1984 filmA Soldier's Story,for which Fuller himself wrote the screen adaptation. His screenplay was nominated for anAcademy Award,aGolden Globe Award,and aWriters Guild Award of America,and it won anEdgar Award.

After this play, Fuller switched his focus to movies for several years, saying "I always wanted to reach the most people with my work. Not enough people go to the theater."Roundabout Theatre Companypresented the play's Broadway debut in January 2020, starringDavid Alan GrierandBlair Underwood,and directed byKenny Leon.It ran for 58 performances, closing on March 11, 2020, when Broadway theaters were closed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.The production was deemed eligible for aTony Award for Best Revival of a Playat the74th Tony Awardsdespite never having been performed on Broadway before. The Tony nominating committee had deemedA Soldier's Playa classic, but in their ruling, the committee also decided that due to this being the play's first Broadway production, Fuller would also be included in the production's nomination as if the play were nominated for aTony Award for Best Play.As such, Fuller won a Tony Award forA Soldier's Playnearly 40 years after its first production.He subsequently penned other works for the stage, but they have not been critically acclaimed.

Of his methods for advancing the African-American cause, Fuller said in a 1982 interview, "My argument is on the stage. I don't have to be angry. O.K.? I get it all out right up there. There's no reason to carry this down from the stage and into the seats. And it does not mean that I am not enraged at injustice or prejudice or bigotry. It simply means that I cannot be enraged all the time. To spend one's life being angry, and in the process doing nothing to change it, is to me ridiculous. I could be mad all day long, but if I'm not doing a damn thing, what difference does it make?"

Fuller received grants from theRockefeller Foundation,Guggenheim Foundation,theState of New York,and theNational Endowment for the Arts.He also wrote short fiction and screenplays and worked as a movie producer. In 2010, he published his first novel,Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me,a work of children's fiction written for his two sons. He was a member of theWriters Guild of America,East.

Personal life

He died of natural causes inTorontoat the age of 83. He left behind his wife, Claire Prieto, his son, David Ira Fuller, his step-son, Ian Kamau, his daughter-in-law, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Bibliography

Plays

• The Village: A Party(also known asThe Perfect Party), 1968
• An Untitled Play,1970
• In My Many Names and Days,1972
• The Candidate,1974.
• In the Deepest Part of Sleep,1974
• First Love(one-act), 1974.
• The Lay out Letter(one-act), 1975
• The Brownsville Raid,1976
• Zooman and the Sign,1982.
• A Soldier's Play,1982
• We,1988
• Eliot’s Coming,1988

Novels

• Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me,2010.

External links

• Charles Fullerat theInternet Broadway Database
• Charles FulleratIMDb
• Charles Fullerat theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• A Soldier's StoryatIMDb
• Charles Fullerat doolee