Charlie L. Russell

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Charlie Louis Russell, Jr. (March 10, 1932 – June 28, 2013)[1] was an American writer, best known for his play, Five on the Black Hand Side,[2] which was later made into an acclaimed motion picture.

Biography[edit]

Charlie L. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the eldest of two children of Charlie, Sr. and Katie Russell. His father moved to Oakland, California, in 1942 and became a shipyard worker. The family was reunited with the father a year later. Charlie and his younger brother, basketball legend Bill Russell,[3] attended local Oakland schools. Charlie graduated from Oakland Technical High School. His interest in writing was sparked while he was a student at Santa Rosa Junior College.[4]

After serving in Korea with the U.S. Army, Russell earned a B.S. in English from the University of San Francisco in 1959. He was also a member of the Dons 1956–57 and 1957–58 basketball teams.[5] Russell was a member of the Harlem Writers Guild.[1]

Russell wrote the play Five on the Black Hand Side, first performed Off Broadway in January 1970.[3] He later adapted the play into a film, which was released by United Artists in 1973. While not a box-office hit, the film was highly praised and established a cult following. It received an NAACP Image Award for best screenplay.[1] Ebony magazine also recognized Five on the Black Hand Side as one of the 10 best African-American films of all time.

In the early 1970s, Russell served as writer in residence at Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) in Harlem.[6] At the NBT, Russell cowrote the play Organize! with Teer.[7]

Russell's other works include the novella A Birthday Present for Katheryn Kenyatta and "Quietus," a short story published in Langston Hughes' Best Negro Short Stories. His play Relaxin' at Camarillo told the story of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker's stay in a mental institution.[8] Other plays included The Incident at Terminal Ecstasy Acres and In White America.[9] Russell's novel The Worthy Ones was published by Jukebox Press in 2002.[10]

Russell was married twice, and had a child from each marriage. Russell resided in Oakland where he was an active member of the California Writers Club until his death on June 28, 2013, after a battle with gastric cancer.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Bay Area News Group (11 July 2013). "Charlie Louis Russell Jr., award-winning playwright, dies at 81". East Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  2. ^ Barnes, Clive (6 January 1970). "Critic Lauds Characters In Middle-Class Comedy". Palm Beach Daily News. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  3. ^ a b Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. May 1974. pp. 96–102. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  4. ^ Tinson, C.M. (2017). Radical Intellect: Liberator Magazine and Black Activism in the 1960s. University of North Carolina Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4696-3456-2. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "Charles Russell". Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Tinson, C.M. (2017). Radical Intellect: Liberator Magazine and Black Activism in the 1960s. University of North Carolina Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4696-3456-2. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Hill, A.D. (2018). Historical Dictionary of African American Theater. Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 512. ISBN 978-1-5381-1729-3. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  8. ^ Arnold, Thomas K. (December 6, 1985). "Russell's Play Packs Message About Genius". The Los Angeles Times. p. 67.
  9. ^ Oberst, Alma (May 8, 1981). "Performing Arts Center's impressive lineup of shows". The Berkeley Gazette. p. 18.
  10. ^ "Authors Booths". The Tribune. San Luis Obispo, California. June 6, 2003. p. 92.
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