Renowned playwright August Wilson will be honored by the United States Postal Service (USPS) with a Forever stamp.
The USPS made the announcement via social media posts and said the stamp will be dedicated to Wilson on January 28, 2021.
Wilson, whose seminal play Fences inspired the 2016 award-winning film starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1945.
He is recognized for his literary contributions that captured African American life and brought nonmusical plays to the foreground of American theatre.
He won seven New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, a Tony Award, and two Pulitzer prizes, one in 1987 and 1990 for Fences and The Piano Lesson, respectively. The Piano Lesson was also adapted into a film, released in 1995, starring Alfred Woodard and Charles S. Dutton. In addition to writing the screenplay, Wilson also produced the film.
Other works by Wilson include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was adapted into a film starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, and Glynn Turman. It was released by Netflix this month and was Boseman’s final onscreen performance before his untimely death in late August.
Wilson also wrote Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and Jitney.
Wilson passed away in 2005 at the age of 60.
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