Lonne Elder III (1931-1996)

October 21, 2018 
/ Contributed By: Rheanna Todd

Lonne Elder

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Lonne Elder was aย playwright, screenwriter, andย actor. Born December 26, 1927, in Americus,ย Georgia, to father Lonne Elder II and Quincy Elder. When Lonne was still an infant, his family moved toย New Jersey. At the age of ten Elderโ€™s parents died, he and his four siblings were sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Jersey City.

In 1949 Elder enrolled at New Jerseyโ€™s Teachers college but dropped out in less than a year. Elder learned how to gamble by following his uncle who ran numbers, and at the age of 19 he moved to Harlem and became a professional gambler as well as a waiter and telephone clerk. Inย New Yorkย he enrolled in the New School for Social Research. In 1952, Elder was drafted into theย US Armyย and was stationed nearย Fisk Universityย in Nashville,ย Tennessee. This is where he met the poet and playwrightย Robert Hayden. Inspired to write by Hayden, Elder moved back to New York in 1953 (once he left the Army) and began to study acting.

In 1959 Elder made his first appearance on Broadway, in the showย A Raisin in the Sun. After acting in the show, Elder decided to write his own plays. He drew on his own experiences, including the life of his uncle the number runner, and wrote the playย Ceremonies of Dark Old Menย in 1965. In 1967, he became the head of theย Negro Ensemble Companyโ€™s playwright unit. The first show they debuted was Elderโ€™sย Ceremonies of Dark Old Menย in 1969. First showing in the St. Markโ€™s Playhouse, then moving onto Broadway.

In 1963, Elder married Betty Gross and had a son named David Elder. The couple divorced in 1967, and Elder then wed Judyann Johnson in 1969, one of the cast members in the original production ofย Ceremonies of Dark Old Men. Together they had a son, Christian, and a daughter, Lonnie.

Elder left Broadway and started to write for Hollywood,ย Californiaย in 1971, when he wrote the filmย Melinda. The following year he wrote the filmย Sounder. He wrote other screenplays for Hollywood but was eventually ostracized by studio executives in the 1980s for his efforts to break from the norm on how blacks were depicted in film. He wanted to break the racist stereotypes in Hollywood. Though he was still employed by studios, he didnโ€™t write anything significant until he was asked to help rewrite the bookย Kingย into a play in London,ย UKย in 1990. The play depicted the life ofย Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.ย as a musical. In 1995,ย Ceremonies of Dark Old Menย was revived in Long Wharf Theater in New Haven,ย Connecticut.

Lonne Elder died on June 1, 1996 in Los Angeles, California due to a chronic illness.ย  He was 69.

About the Author

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Rheanna Todd, born 1997 in Bellevue, Washington. Currently a premed Junior at the University of Washington, working on a bachelors in psychology. With the intention of going to medical school, to become an OB/GYN.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Todd, R. (2018, October 21). Lonne Elder III (1931-1996). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/elder-lonne-iii-1931-1996/

Source of the Author's Information:

“Elder, Lonne III 1931โ€“1996.” Contemporary Black Biography. Encyclopedia.com; Mel Gussow, โ€œLonne Elder, 69, Pioneering Playwright, Dies,โ€ The New York Times, June 13, 1996,ย https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/13/arts/lonne-elder-69-pioneering-playwright-dies.html.

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