Loften Mitchell
James Loften Mitchell (April 15, 1919 – May 14, 2001) was an American playwright and theatre historian who was part of the black American theatre movement of the 1960s.
Life and career
Mitchell was born in Columbus, North Carolina, to an African American family, and moved as a young child with his parents to Harlem. As a high school student, he began performing and writing theatrical sketches, and joined the Rose McClendon Players. He met performers such as Ethel Waters and George Wiltshire, and encountered racial discrimination at first hand in his everyday life. As a result, he resolved to work towards presenting positive images of blacks, and providing better work opportunities, in the theatre. He attended the City College of New York and won a scholarship to attend Talladega College in Alabama, where he wrote a paper which later became the basis of his 1967 book, Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre.[1][2] He married Helen Marsh in 1943; they had two sons, and later divorced.[2]
After serving two years in the
From 1950 until 1962, Mitchell wrote for, and acted in, The Later Years, a radio program on New York station WNYC. His 1957 play A Land Beyond the River was a fictionalised adaptation of the life of schoolteacher and pastor Joseph DeLaine, whose lawsuit helped end segregation in public schools in the U.S.. The play had a long off-Broadway run and was later published as a book.[1][5] Mitchell won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1958.[1] In 1960 he released the three act play, Star of the Morning, for which he wrote the script and music, and for which Romare Bearden and Clyde Fox wrote the lyrics.[6][7]
Mitchell also wrote Tell Pharaoh, in which the characters reflect on their African origins and experiences through slavery to the
In 1976 Mitchell was nominated for a
Mitchell remarried in 1991, to Gloria Anderson.
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Loften Mitchell 1919–2001, Playwright", Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2 December 2019
- ^ a b c d e f "Loften Mitchell, a theatrical Icon", AARegistry. Retrieved 2 December 2019
- ^ Bernard L. Peterson, Lena McPhatter Gore, The African American Theatre Directory, 1816-1960: A Comprehensive Guide to Early Black Theatre Organizations, Companies, Theatres, and Performing Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997, p.168
- ^ Peterson and Gore, p.91
- ^ a b c Kenneth Jones, "Loften Mitchell, Playwright During African-American Theatre's Fervent Years, Dead at 82", Playbill, May 24, 2001. Retrieved 2 December 2019
- ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1960). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1960 Dramas Jan-Dec 3D Ser Vol 14 Pts 3-4. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
External links
- [1] The Loften Mitchell Collection Finding Aid, Binghamton University Libraries