Charles Edward Gordone (October 12, 1925, Cleveland, Ohio, USA – November 16, 1995, College Station, Texas,) was an American playwright, actor, director, and educator. He was the first African American to win the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama and he devoted much of his professional life to the pursuit of multi-racial American theater and racial unity.
Charles Edward Fleming was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Charles and Camille Fleming (née Morgan), of African, Native American, and European heritage. He grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, with two brothers, Jack and Stanley, and a sister, Shirley. He attended Elkhart High School. Camille Fleming later remarried William L. Gordon and the couple had a daughter, Leah Geraldine.
In his 20s, Gordone served in the Air Force, and was discharged at the rank of second lieutenant. After his career in the Air Force, Gordone moved to California, where he married his first wife Juanita Barton in 1948. Together they had two children, Stephen Gordone and Judy Ann Riser. The couple later parted ways and Barton ensconced himself in theater at Los Angeles City College and California State University, Los Angeles. He then moved to New York City, where he waited tables and pursued an acting career.
In the late 1950s, Charles met his second wife, Jeanne Warner, in Greenwich Village, New York City. In the 1960s, they had one daughter together, Leah-Carla Gordone. During the 1960s revolution, "open marriages" were common, and Charles met artist Nancy Meadows. Together they had a son, David Brent Gordone, yet Charles Gordone remained with Jeanne Warner raising their daughter Leah-Carla in New York City over the years while Nancy Meadows left her position with the Washington Post and traveled around with her son David as a member of Wavy Gravy's Hog Farm (a 1960s hippie communal/caravan group that coordinated light shows for major concerts around the U.S., including the first Woodstock Concert).
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gordone continued acting and began directing. At one point, he sang and played guitar in a calypso band. He co-founded both the Committee for the Employment of Negro Performers and the Vantage Theater in Queens. His acting credits included Brother Jerro in The Trials of Brother Jerro Bohem, Hickey in Of Mice and Men, and The Valet in Jean Genet's The Blacks (1961–66) alongside James Earl Jones, Maya Angelou, Cicely Tyson, and many other Black actors who went on to change Hollywood. In the 70's, Gordone's distinctive voice guided him to four film collaborations with controversial animation director Ralph Bakshi; as Crazy Moe in Heavy Traffic, Preacher Fox in Coonskin, along with two uncredited vocal performances in Wizards and Hey, Good Lookin'. In 1987, Gordone appeared in the movie Angel Heart, starring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet and Robert De Niro. He also assisted with the casting of the '60s feature film Nothing But a Man, starring Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, and Julius Harris.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 
|
Crazy Joe | Heavy Traffic |