Playwright, stage actor, writer. His most famous play is "Paul Robeson," a story of the African American singer, actor and activist of the 1930s and 1940s, which has so far been produced three times on Broadway and has toured across the United States and Europe. There was a great deal of controversy over the play, mostly from a group called "The National Ad-Hoc Committee to End the Crimes Against Paul Robeson." Among others, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, civil rights figures Coretta Scott King and Julian Bond, and political leaders Representative Charles B. Rangel and Detroit Mayor Coleman Young were part of this group. Mr. Dean also wrote over a dozen other plays, beginning in 1960, including "The Last American Dixieland Band," "Moloch Blues," "The Owl Killer and Dink's Blues," "Every Night When the Sun Goes Down," "Freeman," and "The Sty of the Blind Pig." Time magazine pronounced "The Sty of the Blind Pig" one of the best new plays of 1971, and the play won the Hull Warner Award and the Drama Desk Award. The Broadway revival of "Paul Robeson" in 1979 won the Christopher Award. Mr. Dean appeared on Broadway in "Wisteria Trees" in 1955 and was a stage manager for a version of "Waiting for Godot" in 1957.
Cause of death: aortic aneurysm.
Cause of death: aortic aneurysm.
Playwright, stage actor, writer. His most famous play is "Paul Robeson," a story of the African American singer, actor and activist of the 1930s and 1940s, which has so far been produced three times on Broadway and has toured across the United States and Europe. There was a great deal of controversy over the play, mostly from a group called "The National Ad-Hoc Committee to End the Crimes Against Paul Robeson." Among others, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, civil rights figures Coretta Scott King and Julian Bond, and political leaders Representative Charles B. Rangel and Detroit Mayor Coleman Young were part of this group. Mr. Dean also wrote over a dozen other plays, beginning in 1960, including "The Last American Dixieland Band," "Moloch Blues," "The Owl Killer and Dink's Blues," "Every Night When the Sun Goes Down," "Freeman," and "The Sty of the Blind Pig." Time magazine pronounced "The Sty of the Blind Pig" one of the best new plays of 1971, and the play won the Hull Warner Award and the Drama Desk Award. The Broadway revival of "Paul Robeson" in 1979 won the Christopher Award. Mr. Dean appeared on Broadway in "Wisteria Trees" in 1955 and was a stage manager for a version of "Waiting for Godot" in 1957.
Cause of death: aortic aneurysm.
Cause of death: aortic aneurysm.
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