Woodie King Jr.

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Woodie King Jr.
Woodie king jr 2021 1.jpg
King at the 74th Tony Awards in 2021
Born (1937-07-27) July 27, 1937 (age 88)
Baldwin Springs, Alabama, U.S.
Education
Occupation(s)Director, producer

Woodie King Jr. (born July 27, 1937) is an American film and theatre actor, producer and director. Renowned for his pioneering career, he dedicated himself to increasing the representation of African-American voices in the performing arts. King is credited for producing and directing more than 400 performances across the United States [1] . He has been hailed by theatre arts journalists as “the Renaissance Man of Black Theatre”. [2]

Contents

He is best known as the founding director of the New Federal Theatre in New York City, with a mission to amplify the voices of Black artists, women, other underrepresented identities. [3] Numerous African-American artists who are highly prominent in the entertainment industry today performed at the New Federal Theater in the early years of their careers, including Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Lawrence Fishburne, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Loretta Devine, Jackie Harry, Reginald Vel Johnson, Al Freemon jr., and more. [4]

King retired from his role as the producing director at the New Federal Theatre in 2021, but he remains on the board [5] . He is widely celebrated for his transformative influence on the development and public recognition of Black voices in the performing arts. [6]

Early life and education

King was born in Baldwin Springs, Alabama, United States. [7] He graduated high school in 1956 in Detroit, Michigan. He experienced much hardship in his early life due to his father’s alcoholism and his parents’ divorce.

After his high school graduation in 1956, King started his first job at the Ford Motor Company as an arc welder. [8]  In 1959, King went to work for the city of Detroit as a draftsman. He spent the next five years working at Mobilization for Youth as the cultural director. [7] In 1970, he founded the New Federal Theatre. [3]

After graduating high school, he attended Leman College in the Bronx, New York where he earned a B.A. degree in Self-Determined Studies, with a focus on Theatre and Black Studies [7] . Later, he earned an M.F.A degree at Brooklyn College in New York [7] .

Credits

King has a long list of credits in film, television, and stage direction and production, including the following:

Film

YearTitleRoleRef.
1967 Sweet Love, Bitter Actor: Woodie King Jr. [9]
1972 Together for Days Actor: Jerry [9]
1973 Serpico Actor: Larry [9]
1976The Long NightWriter, Director, Actor: Steely [9]
2012 Men in Black 3 Actor: HQ Guard [9]
2015 Staten Island Summer Actor: Mr. Stewart [9]

Television

YearTitleRoleRef.
1968 N.Y.P.D. Actor: Lewis

Episode: "Which Side Are You Own?"

 [9]
1981Death of a ProphetDirector [9]
1983Love to all, LorraineDirector [9]
1994 Law & Order Actor: Clayton

Episode: "Wager"

 [9]
2009 Law & Order: SVU Actor: Parking Attendant

Episode: "Perverted"

 [9]
2011 Treme Actor

Episode: "Slip Away"

 [9]
2014 Unforgettable Actor: Barry [9]

Theatre

YearTitleRolePlaywrightVenueRef.
1974What the Wine Sellers BuyProducer Ron Milner Vivian Beaumont Theater [10]
1975The Talking of Miss JanieProducer Ed Bullins The Henry Street Settlement [11]
1976 For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf Producer Ntozake Shange The Public Theater [12]
1976 Sizwe Banzi Is Dead Director Athol Fugard Pittsburgh Public Theater
1980ReggaeExecutive Producer Melvin Van Peebles, Stafford Harrison Biltmore Theatre [13]
1989 God's Trombones Director James Weldon Johnson Ford's Theater
1987Splendid MummerDirector Lonne Elder American Place Theatre; Arena Stage
1988-1996CheckmatesDirector Ron Milner Richard Rogers Theater [14]
1990Joe Turner's Come and Gone August Wilson Detroit Repertory Theater
1992 The Member of the Wedding Carson McCullers Indiana Repertory Company
1993Good Black Don't CrackRob Penny Billie Holiday Theatre
1994 A Raisin in the Sun Producer, Director Lorraine Hansberry Alliance Theater
1994Mudtracks Regina Taylor Ensemble Studio Theater
1995–1996 Eyes Mari Evans American Cabaret Theater
1996–1997 Joe Turner's Come and Gone August Wilson Brooklyn College
1996–1997HomeDirector Samm-Art Williams Baltimore Center Stage
1998–1999 Angels in America Tony Kushner Ohio State University
2000 James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire Howard Simon New York Shakespeare Festival
2012 The Piano Lesson August Wilson Seminole State College of Florida

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ III, Marshall Jones (July 9, 2021). "Woodie King Jr. and a Lifetime of Creation". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  2. ↑ Staff, Emerson Today (May 22, 2010). "A reading in tribute to Artist-in-Residence Woodie King Jr". Emerson Today. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "New Federal Theatre - About Us". New Federal Theater. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ CUNY TV (August 16, 2016). African American Legends: Woodie King Jr., The New Federal Theatre . Retrieved December 3, 2025– via YouTube.
  5. ↑ III, Marshall Jones (July 9, 2021). "Woodie King Jr. and a Lifetime of Creation". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  6. ↑ III, Marshall Jones (July 9, 2021). "Woodie King Jr. and a Lifetime of Creation". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Woodie King Jr. Biography". The HistoryMakers . April 18, 2003. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Woodie King, Jr.'s Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Woodie King Jr. - IMDB". IMDB . Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  10. ↑ "What the Wine-Sellers Buy – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Stage: Bullins's 'Taking of Miss Janie' (Published 1975)". March 18, 1975. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Ntozake Shange, Woodie King, Jr. and More Discuss History of For Colored Girls (Video) | Playbill". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Playbill". Playbill. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Checkmates (Broadway, 1988)". Playbill . Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Woodie King, Jr. to Retire June 30 as Head of New Federal Theatre". Our Time Press . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Rosetta LeNoire Award | 2005 – Woodie King, Jr and the New Federal Theatre"". Actors' Equity Association. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  17. ↑ Gans, Andrew; Michael Gioia (January 30, 2012). "Tyne Daly, Ben Vereen, Ann Roth, Daniel Sullivan and More Inducted into Theater Hall of Fame 30 Jan". playbill.com. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Black theatrical trailblazers Woodie King Jr. and Irene Gandy among recipients of honorary Tony Awards for excellence". New York Daily News . August 4, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
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