Woodie King Jr., founder of powerhouse off-Broadway New Federal Theatre, dies at 88

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NEW YORK (AP) — Woodie King Jr., an actor, director and producer who founded the New Federal Theatre to give voice and employment to Black playwrights, actors, directors, designers and young people entering the American theater, has died. He was 88.

His off-Broadway theater company said King died Thursday at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City of complications from emergency heart surgery.

King was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2012 and received the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 2020.

“We have lost a giant,” said Emmy Award-winning actor and educator Erin Cherry on Instagram. “I am here because of Woodie King Jr. My very first introduction to the Black theater scene was the play ‘Knock Me a Kiss’ produced by New Federal Theatre. It changed my life. I'm forever grateful.”

The New Federal Theatre produced such key works as “Black Girl” by J.E. Franklin, “The Taking of Miss Janie” by Ed Bullins — which jumped to Lincoln Center and won the Drama Critics Circle Award — and “For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” by Ntozake Shange, which landed on Broadway in 1976 and was nominated for the best new play Tony Award.

The New Federal Theatre was a springboard for many playwrights, including Charles Fuller — later to win the Pulitzer Prize for “A Soldier’s Play” — who premiered two plays — “In My Many Names and Days” and “The Candidate.” David Henry Hwang premiered “The Dance and the Railroad” at the New Federal and would later win the Tony for “M. Butterfly.”

Some performers who got early career boosts thanks to the company include Chadwick Boseman, Debbie Allen, Morgan Freeman, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson and Issa Rae.

King was born in Alabama, raised in Detroit and earned his bachelor's degree from Lehman College and later his master's from Brooklyn College. He served as the cultural director of Mobilization for Youth for five years, before founding New Federal Theatre in 1970.

King is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Van Dyke, and his three children, Geoffrey King, Michael King and Michelle King Huger, whom he shared with ex-wife Willie Mae Washington, as well as five grandchildren.

Tyler Fauntleroy, an actor who has toured in “Hamilton,” took to Instagram to recall working at the New Federal in 2019 on a show called “Looking for Leroy” that would change his career. “His belief in me came at a time when my own was at an all time low. What a champion he was for Black artists. It was an honor to witness. Thank you, sir and rest easy.”