Samuel Arthur Williams (January 20, 1946 – May 13, 2024) was an American playwright and screenwriter, television producer, and an actor on stage, television and film.
Williams was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his play Home (1979), which moved from the Negro Ensemble Company to a Broadway production in 1980. In the mid-1980s, he received two Emmy nominations for his work for television series. The Black Rep of St. Louis, Missouri, produced the premiere of his play The Montford Point Marine (2011).
Biography
Early life and career
Williams was born on January 20, 1946, in Burgaw, North Carolina, the son of Samuel and Valdosia Williams.[1] His mother was a high-school English and drama teacher. Williams attended segregated public schools through high school[1] He grew up in Burgaw under the care of his mother. Williams credited her with his interest in and love of words. He said that his mother "made me read everything from Langston Hughes to Edgar Allan Poe.... I think The Raven was my greatest influence—in seeing this bird, I saw what a great thing it was to be able to work on a person's mind with words."[1] Williams graduated from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied political science and psychology. At one point, he considered becoming a lawyer, but his dream of being a playwright won out.[1]
After college, Williams moved to Philadelphia, where he collaborated with the New Freedom Theatre as an actor, worked as a salesman to pay his bills, and wrote in his free time. Eventually, he moved to New York City to focus on his writing, though he knew he would also have to continue acting for income.[1]
As Samm Williams, he entered New York City theater as an actor in 1973, performing in the play Black Jesus.[citation needed] With New York's Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), Williams appeared in such plays as Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1974) and Liberty Calland (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1975), before taking on the name Samm-Art Williams for Argus and Klansman and Waiting for Mongo (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1975).[citation needed]
As Samm Williams, he wrote the play Welcome to Black River, produced by the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1975; and as Samm-Art Williams, The Coming and Do Unto Others, both at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn in 1976; A Love Play produced by the NEC that same year; The Last Caravan (1977); and Brass Birds Don't Sing, at New York City's Stage 73 in 1978.[citation needed]
Williams participated in the NEC Playwrights Workshop under the guidance of playwright-in-residence Steve Carter, who strongly influenced his work. About Carter, Williams said "that no single individual has influenced my writing to the degree that Steve Carter has."[5]
Williams wrote and directed the comedy The Dance on Widows' Row, produced by the New Federal Theatre at Manhattan's Harry De Jur Playhouse at Henry Street Settlement from June 25 to July 30, 2000.[7][8]
In 2006, Williams held auditions for his play The Waiting Room, to be performed that spring at the Raleigh Little Theatre's Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina.[9]
In 2011, The Black Rep of St. Louis, Missouri, produced the world premiere of his play The Montford Point Marine, starring J. Samuel Davis. Montford Point was where the first black Marines trained.[10]
1988: Emmy Award Nomination – Outstanding Comedy Series, Frank's Place (as story editor; shared with executive producers Hugh Wilson and Tim Reid, producers Max Tash and David Chambers and co-producer Richard Dubin)
