1945 |
April 27 |
Frederick August Kittel is born in Pittsburgh's Hill District. |
1959 |
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August is the only black student at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School. |
1960 |
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He drops out of Gladstone High School when a teacher accuses him of plagiarizing a paper on Napoleon. |
1962 |
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He enlists in the U.S. Army but leaves after only one year. |
1965 |
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His father dies and August changes his name to Wilson, his mother's maiden name. |
1968 |
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Wilson and Rob Penny co-found the Black Horizon Theater in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. |
1969 |
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Wilson marries Brenda Burton, a nurse. |
1970 |
January 22 |
Wilson's oldest daughter, Sakina Ansari Wilson, is born. |
1972 |
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Wilson divorces Brenda Burton. |
1978 |
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He moves to Saint Paul, Minnesota and begins writing educational scripts for the Science Museum of Minnesota. |
1980 |
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He receives a fellowship for the Minneapolis Playwrights Center. |
1981 |
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He marries Judy Oliver, a social worker. |
1982 |
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Jitney premieres at the Allegheny Repertory Theatre in Pittsburgh. |
1984 |
April |
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre, catapulting August Wilson to the forefront of the American theatre scene. |
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October 11 |
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom moves to the Cort Theatre on Broadway where it will enjoy a run of 276 performances and win the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. |
1985 |
April 30 |
Fences premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. |
1986 |
May |
Joe Turner's Come and Gone premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. |
1987 |
March 26 |
Fences opens at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway where it will enjoy a run of 525 performances and earn Wilson a Tony Award for Best Play as well as his first Pulitzer Prize for Drama. |
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November 26 |
The Piano Lesson premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. |
1988 |
March 27 |
Joe Turner's Come and Gone opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. |
1990 |
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Wilson divorces Judy Oliver and moves to Seattle. |
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March |
Two Trains Running premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. |
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April 16 |
The Piano Lesson opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway where it will enjoy a run of 328 performances and earn Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama. |
1992 |
April 13 |
Two Trains Running opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. |
1994 |
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Wilson marries costume designer Constanza Romero. |
1995 |
January |
Seven Guitars premieres at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. |
1996 |
March 28 |
Seven Guitars opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. |
1999 |
December |
King Hedley II premieres at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre. |
2001 |
May 1 |
King Hedley II opens at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway. |
2003 |
April |
Gem of the Ocean premieres at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. |
2004 |
December 6 |
Gem of the Ocean opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. |
2005 |
April 22 |
Radio Golf premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre, completing Wilson's ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience through each decade of the 20th century. |
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June |
Wilson is diagnosed with liver cancer. |
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October 2 |
August Wilson dies at the age of 60. |
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October 17 |
Broadway's Virginia Theatre is renamed in Wilson's honor. It is the first Broadway theatre to bear the name of an African American. |
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Browse August Wilson Quotes |