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Richard Wright

Richard Wright

Born: September 4, 1908
Died: November 28, 1960
in Roxie, Mississippi, USA
His powerful, eloquent work examined the injustices African-Americans face in a white society. He won immediate fame for his first novel, "Native Son" (1940). It tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a young chauffeur whose inarticulate rage over his lot ultimately erupts into violence. "Native Son" was adapted into a play directed by Orson Welles in 1941, filmed in 1951 with Wright himself playing Bigger, and again in 1986. Wright's other books include "Black Boy" (1945), an autobiography; the novels "The Outsider" (1953) and "The Long Dream" (1958); the story collections "Uncle Tom's Children" (1938) and "Eight Men" (1961); and the philosophical volumes "Black Power" (1954) and "White Man, Listen!" (1957). Richard Nathaniel Wright was born near Natchez, Mississippi. Largely self-educated, he began to write after moving to Chicago around 1927. He was a member of the Communist Party from 1932 to 1944; he later wrote of his disillusionment with that system in "The God That Failed" (1949), a collection of essays by former party members. Wright lived in Paris from 1946 until his death. A second book of memoirs, "American Hunger," was published posthumously in 1977.

Movies for Richard Wright...

Richard Wright: Native Son, Author and Activist
Title: Richard Wright: Native Son, Author and Activist
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2009
Type: Movie
Click for Details
RICHARD WRIGHT was an African-American author of novels, short stories and non-fiction that dealt with powerful themes and controversial topics. Much of his works concerned racial themes that helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century. Born on a plantation in Mississippi, Wright was a descendent of the first slaves who arrived in Jamestown Massachusetts. This program follows his arduous path from sharecropper to literary giant. Through authors like H.L. Menken, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, he discovered that literature could be used as a catalyst for social change. In 1937 Wright moved to New York and his work began to garner national attention for it's political and social commentary. Much of Wright's writing focused on the African American community and experience; his novel Native Son won him a Guggenheim Fellowship and was adapted to the Broadway stage with Orson Welles directing in 1941.
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Native Son
Title: Native Son
Character: Bigger Thomas
Released: March 2, 1951
Type: Movie
Click for Details
Author Richard Wright portrays his novel's Bigger Thomas, a young chauffeur trapped in an accidental murder.
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