J. E. Franklin
J. E. Franklin | |
---|---|
Born | Jennie Elizabeth Franklin August 10, 1937 Houston, Texas, USA |
Occupation | Playwright |
Nationality | United States |
Notable awards | Drama Desk Award (1971–72) for Black Girl |
J. E. Franklin (born August 10, 1937) is an American playwright, best known for her 1969 play Black Girl, which was later made into a 1972 feature film.
Biography[]
She was born Jennie Elizabeth Franklin in Houston, Texas, to Robert Franklin and Mathie Randle.[1] She has written several plays, but is best known for Black Girl, which was originally produced by public television station WGBH, Boston, in 1969. It was staged off-Broadway in 1971 by Shauneille Perry at the New Federal Theatre. Franklin subsequently received a Drama Desk Award for most promising playwright.[2] Her feature-film adaptation of the play was released in 1972.
Her first play to receive a major stage production was Mau Mau Room, which was also directed by Shauneille Perry. It was produced at the Negro Ensemble Company, just prior to Black Girl.[3]
Other plays by Franklin include The In-Crowd, Prodigal Daughter and Cut Out the Lights and Call the Law. Prodigal Daughter was adapted into a musical entitled Prodigal Sister, which was produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1974.[2]
Awards[]
- Drama Desk Award (1971–72)
References[]
- ^ "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 [database on-line]". Provo, Utah: The Generations Network. 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Peterson Jr., Bernard L., ed. (1988). Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays: A Biographical Directory and Dramatic Index. New York, Westport, Connecticut, & London: Greenwood Press. pp. 175–177. ISBN 0-313-25190-8.
- ^ Johnson, John H., ed. (April 1973). "Black women 'star' behind scenes in New York drama". Ebony. 6. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. 28: 108.
- 1937 births
- Living people
- African-American women writers
- Drama Desk Award winners
- Writers from Houston
- American women dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- American dramatist and playwright stubs