Ron Milner
Encyclopedia
Ronald Milner was an African-American playwright. His play, Checkmates, starring Paul Winfield
and Denzel Washington
ran on Broadway
in 1988.
interview that "The more I read in high school, the more I realized that some tremendous, phenomenal things were happening around me. What happened in a Faulkner novel happened four times a day on Hastings Street. I thought why should these crazy people Faulkner writes about seem more important than my mother or my father or the dude down the street. Only because they had someone to write about them. So I became a writer." He attended Northeastern High School. He also briefly attended Highland Park Junior College and Detroit Institute of Technology
.
In 1962 he won the John Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship to help aid him to complete a novel, "Life With Father Brown," which remains unpublished. He went to New York to join Harvey Swados
's writing workshop at Columbia University
. Under the mentorship of Langston Hughes
, he was able to get Rockefeller Foundation
grant.
His first big break came in 1966 with Who's Got His Own. The play begins with the funeral of a harsh father, Tim Bronson, and ends with a tentative rebirth for his long-suffering widow and his embittered son and daughter, Tim, Jr., and Clara. The unsuspected truths which Mrs. Bronson is driven to reveal about their father ultimately enable Tim and Clara to see the real lives of their parents, as painful as it is. The expression that has historically been thwarted, which is primarily at the core in the play, is the question of black manhood. The protagonist is a highly combative and alienated son, torn by despair over ever being able to respect or love a father he has long since written off as a fierce tyrant at home and a coward at work. The show toured colleges in New York before going to the Lafayette Theatre
in 1967.
The Warning—A Theme for Linda was part of the A Black Quartet with 4 plays by Amiri Baraka
, Ed Bullins
, Ben Caldwell, and Milner and were produced by Woodie King, Jr.
. It was put up at Brooklyn Academy of Music
's Chelsea Theater Center
on April 25, 1969.
He met Woodie King, Jr.
when he was 19. He would inspire Milner to write, and from that came Life Agony. His second work, Who's Got His Own, became a smash hit off-broadway. These two worked together for over forty years.
He was the artist in residence at Lincoln University
in 1966-1967. He taught at Michigan State University from 1971-1972. Founder and director of Spirit of Shango theatre company. He also led play writing classes at Wayne State University
.
Milner's works included Who's Got His Own (inspired by Billie Holiday
's "God Bless the Child"), What the Wine-Sellers Buy (the first play by an African-American produced by Joseph Papp
at the New York Shakespeare Festival
at Lincoln Center), and Roads to the Mountaintop (a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.) He taught creative writing at the University of Southern California
, Wayne State University
, and Michigan State University
.
Milner served as a mentor to writer and journalist J. Samuel Cook
, whom he met at a conference in Toledo, Ohio. Cook attributes the success of his award-winning play "Barren Fields" to Milner's direction. In 2003, Milner directed a play at the Hope Repertory Theatre.
Milner died of complications from liver cancer
. He is survived by 5 children and 8 grandchildren.
Paul Winfield
Paul Edward Winfield was an American television, film, and stage actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield also portrayed Dr....
and Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
ran on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1988.
Early life
Ronald Milner was born on May 29, 1938 in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up on Hastings Street, also known as "The Valley". It had "muslims on corner, hustlers and pimps on another, winos on one, and Aretha Franklin singing from her father's church on the other" said Geneva Smitherman, author of Black World. Milner would tell David Richards in a Washington StarWashington Star
The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
interview that "The more I read in high school, the more I realized that some tremendous, phenomenal things were happening around me. What happened in a Faulkner novel happened four times a day on Hastings Street. I thought why should these crazy people Faulkner writes about seem more important than my mother or my father or the dude down the street. Only because they had someone to write about them. So I became a writer." He attended Northeastern High School. He also briefly attended Highland Park Junior College and Detroit Institute of Technology
Detroit Institute of Technology
The Detroit Institute of Technology was a fully accredited, four-year technical college in Detroit, Michigan that closed operations as a result of economic recession in 1982.First called the Association Institute...
.
In 1962 he won the John Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship to help aid him to complete a novel, "Life With Father Brown," which remains unpublished. He went to New York to join Harvey Swados
Harvey Swados
Harvey Swados was an American social critic and author of novels, short stories, essays and journalism.-Family and Early Life:...
's writing workshop at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Under the mentorship of Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, he was able to get Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
grant.
His first big break came in 1966 with Who's Got His Own. The play begins with the funeral of a harsh father, Tim Bronson, and ends with a tentative rebirth for his long-suffering widow and his embittered son and daughter, Tim, Jr., and Clara. The unsuspected truths which Mrs. Bronson is driven to reveal about their father ultimately enable Tim and Clara to see the real lives of their parents, as painful as it is. The expression that has historically been thwarted, which is primarily at the core in the play, is the question of black manhood. The protagonist is a highly combative and alienated son, torn by despair over ever being able to respect or love a father he has long since written off as a fierce tyrant at home and a coward at work. The show toured colleges in New York before going to the Lafayette Theatre
Lafayette Theatre (Harlem)
The Lafayette Theatre, also known as "the House Beautiful," was an entertainment venue located at 132nd Street and 7th Avenue in Harlem, New York. It was the first New York theater to desegregate, as early as 1912. Here, African-American theatergoers were allowed to sit in orchestra seats instead...
in 1967.
The Warning—A Theme for Linda was part of the A Black Quartet with 4 plays by Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
, Ed Bullins
Ed Bullins
Ed Bullins is an African American playwright. He was also the Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. In addition, he has won numerous awards, including the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and several Obies. He is one of the best known playwrights to come from the Black Arts Movement...
, Ben Caldwell, and Milner and were produced by Woodie King, Jr.
Woodie King, Jr.
Woodie King, Jr, born 27 July 1937 in Baldwin Springs, Alabama, United States, is a renowned African-American director and producer of stage and screen, as well as the founding director of the New Federal Theater in New York, New York, United States....
. It was put up at Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
's Chelsea Theater Center
Chelsea Theater Center
The Chelsea Theater Center was a not-for-profit theater company founded in 1965 by Robert Kalfin, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. It opened its doors in a church in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, then moved to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1968, where it was in residence for ten...
on April 25, 1969.
He met Woodie King, Jr.
Woodie King, Jr.
Woodie King, Jr, born 27 July 1937 in Baldwin Springs, Alabama, United States, is a renowned African-American director and producer of stage and screen, as well as the founding director of the New Federal Theater in New York, New York, United States....
when he was 19. He would inspire Milner to write, and from that came Life Agony. His second work, Who's Got His Own, became a smash hit off-broadway. These two worked together for over forty years.
He was the artist in residence at Lincoln University
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
in 1966-1967. He taught at Michigan State University from 1971-1972. Founder and director of Spirit of Shango theatre company. He also led play writing classes at Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
.
Milner's works included Who's Got His Own (inspired by Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
's "God Bless the Child"), What the Wine-Sellers Buy (the first play by an African-American produced by Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
at the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
at Lincoln Center), and Roads to the Mountaintop (a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.) He taught creative writing at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
, and Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
.
Milner served as a mentor to writer and journalist J. Samuel Cook
J. Samuel Cook
J. Samuel Cook is an African-American playwright, journalist, educator and writer currently serving as director of the 7th Ward Neighborhood Center in New Orleans, a non-profit organization designed to improve quality of life conditions for residents of New Orleans' historic 7th Ward. His one-act...
, whom he met at a conference in Toledo, Ohio. Cook attributes the success of his award-winning play "Barren Fields" to Milner's direction. In 2003, Milner directed a play at the Hope Repertory Theatre.
Milner died of complications from liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
. He is survived by 5 children and 8 grandchildren.
Works
- Who's Got His Own (1966)
- The Monster (1968)
- The Warning—A Theme for Linda (1969)
- M(ego) and the Green Ball of Freedom (1971)
- What the Wine Sellers Buy (1973)
- These Three (1974)
- Season's Reasons (1976)
- Work (1978)
- Jazz-set (1980)
- Crack Steppin (1981)
- Checkmates (1987)
- Don't Get God Started (1987)
- Defending the Light (2000)
- Urban Transition: Loose Blossoms (2002)
- Life Agony
- The Greatest Gift
External links
- Michigancitizen.com, The Michigan Citizen obituary on Ron Milner
- Playbill.com