April 27, 1945
Frederick August Kittel is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the city neighborhood known as “The Hill.” The Hill is Pittsburgh’s Harlem, a hub of creativity and commerce and, in 1945, still racially mixed. His mother, Daisy Wilson, is African-American while his father, a German immigrant named Frederick Kittel, is white. He is one of seven children who will eventually be born to the couple, though Frederick would be absent for most of his children’s lives.
1959
A student at the predominantly white private Central Catholic High School, young Frederick is the victim of constant race-based bullying and abuse. He leaves Central Catholic for Connelly Trade School, where he feels unchallenged. He later transfers to Gladstone High School in the neighborhood of Hazelwood.
1960
Now a tenth-grader, Wilson is assigned an essay on a historical figure. After being accused of plagiarizing his paper on Napoleon Bonaparte, the 15-year-old drops out of Gladstone High. He becomes a voracious reader and educates himself by spending his days at the nearby Carnegie Library.
1962
Wilson enlists in the U.S. Army but leaves after a year.
1963-1964
Wilson works a variety of jobs and begins writing poetry. He purchases his first typewriter and discovers Bessie Smith and the blues.
1965
To honor his mother, Frederick August Kittel changes his name to August Wilson. His biological father dies.
1968
Embracing a heightened black consciousness, Wilson co-founds the Black Horizons Theater with colleagues Rob Penny, Sala Udin, Maisha Baton, Claude Purdy and others. Watch him speak about this time period.
1969
Wilson marries Brenda Burton. His stepfather, David Bedford, passes away.
1970
Wilson’s daughter, Sakina Ansari Wilson, is born.
1976
Kuntu Repertory Theater produces Wilson’s first play, The Homecoming, directed by Dr. Vernell Lillie.
1977
Wilson writes a western musical play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. The production was a success, but Wilson doesn’t count that play as part of his playwriting career.
1978
Wilson leaves Pittsburgh for St. Paul, Minnesota, with the help of his friend Claude Purdy. He is hired as a writer for the St. Paul Science Museum.
1980
The respected Minneapolis Playwrights Center grants Wilson a fellowship.
1981
August Wilson marries Judy Oliver.
1982
Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Repertory Theater stages Jitney.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a play about the legendary blues singer, is accepted by the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut.
August Wilson meets Lloyd Richards, an African-American director who serves as the Dean of the Yale University School of Drama and the artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre. The two men forge a friendship that results in Richards directing Wilson’s first six Broadway plays.
1983
Wilson’s mother, Daisy Wilson, dies.
1984
Ma Rainey premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre to critical acclaim, quickly moving to Broadway. The play wins Wilson his first New York Drama Critics Circle award. Watch a monologue from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
1985
Fences, the story of a frustrated former Negro League baseball player, premieres at Yale Repertory.
1986
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone premieres at the Yale Rep.
1987
Fences opens on Broadway. Wilson wins his second New York Drama Critics Circle Award and his first Pulitzer Prize. The play goes on to gross $11 million during its inaugural Broadway season.
Watch a scene from Fences.
1988
Joe Turner wins the New York Drama Critics Circle Award after opening on Broadway. Wilson returns to Pittsburgh to lecture at the Carnegie Institute and appears on Bill Moyers’ “World of Ideas.”
Yale Rep premieres The Piano Lesson.
1989
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh awards Wilson its first ever high school diploma.
1990
Wilson is named 1990 Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine.
The Piano Lesson opens on Broadway and wins Wilson his fourth New York Drama Critics Circle Award and his second Pulitzer Prize. Two Trains Running premieres.
Wilson’s second marriage ends and he moves to Seattle, Washington.
1992
Two Trains Running opens on Broadway and wins the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best American play.
1994
Hallmark Hall of Fame produces a teleplay of The Piano Lesson starring Charles Dutton, Alfre Woodard, and Courtney Vance; it is filmed in Pittsburgh.
Wilson marries costume designer Constanza Romero.
1995
The Piano Lesson is broadcast on national television. Seven Guitars premieres.
1996
Seven Guitars reaches Broadway and Wilson is awarded his sixth NYDCC Award.
Wilson writes “The Ground on Which I Stand,” his controversial essay on the need for black artists to maintain control over their cultural identity, and to establish permanent cultural institutions that celebrate the unique achievements of black theater.
1997
Wilson participates in a contentious and widely publicized debate with theater critic Robert Brustein on the funding of black theatre, color-blind casting and other topics.
Wilson’s daughter Azula Carmen Wilson is born to August and Constanza.
1998
Wilson teaches playwriting at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
2000
Jitney is produced in New York. It is Wilson’s first play to be staged in an off-Broadway theatre. He is awarded his seventh NYDCC Award.
2001
King Hedley II opens on Broadway.
2002
Gem of the Ocean premieres in Chicago. London’s Olivier Award names Jitney the year’s best play.
2003
Whoopi Goldberg appears on Broadway in a revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
2004
Gem of the Ocean opens on Broadway.
Watch a Gem of the Ocean scene performed by Phylicia Rashad.
2005
Radio Golf, Wilson’s last play in the Century Cycle, premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre.
In June, August Wilson is diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and dies Sunday, October 2, in a Seattle hospital. His funeral service is held at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, not far from his mother Daisy.
On October 16, the Virginia Theatre on Broadway is renamed the “August Wilson Theatre,” in his honor.
2022
August Wilson House opens in Wilson’s childhood home.