Woodie King Jr. — the indomitable force who insisted that Black life, in all its beauty and complexity, belonged on America’s stages — transitioned into the realm of the ancestors on Thursday, January 29. He was 86.
“A giant has left big footsteps for us all to continue the journey,” said Ron Himes, Founder and Producing Director of The St. Louis Black Repertory Company. “The world will be less without him.”
For nearly six decades, King coaxed brilliance from artists who didn’t yet know they possessed it. His New Federal Theatre, founded in 1970, became a sanctuary for voices that mainstream stages had long ignored. Under his leadership, the company produced works that would become cornerstones of Black theatrical history: Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls…,” Amiri Baraka’s “Slave Ship,” Ed Bullins’ “The Taking of Miss Janie,” Ron Milner’s “What the Wine-Sellers Buy,” and early productions featuring actors who would later become household names.
Denzel Washington, who performed under King’s direction early in his career, credited him publicly in a 2022 tribute shared through New Federal Theatre.
“Woodie King Jr. gave me my start,” Washington said. “He believed in me before Hollywood knew my name.”
Actor Debbi Morgan, who appeared in early NFT productions, shared how King’s mentorship shaped her career.
“He nurtured us. He pushed us,” Morgan said. “He made us believe we had something to say — and that the world needed to hear it.”
Woodie King Jr. was born in Baldwin Springs, Alabama, on July 27, 1937. When he was five, he became a son of the Great Migration as he and his parents moved to Detroit.
After graduating from high school in 1956, King followed countless other Black men in Detroit to the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company. But destiny had other plans. From 1958 to 1962, he attended the Will‑O‑Way School of Theatre on a scholarship. During that same period, from 1959 to 1962, he wrote drama criticism for the Detroit Tribune. In 1960, King co‑founded the Concept‑East Theatre with Ron Milner, serving as its manager and director until 1963.
He moved to New York City — long considered the heartbeat of American theatre — in 1964.
Before founding New Federal Theatre, King sharpened his artistic vision alongside the Negro Ensemble Company, the groundbreaking institution that helped define modern Black theater. He worked with NEC in its formative years, absorbing its ethos of ensemble‑driven storytelling and its insistence that Black artists deserved the same rigor, resources and respect afforded to their white counterparts. That connection shaped his mission: to build a national platform where Black stories were not only welcomed, but prioritized.
In St. Louis, his legacy is woven into the DNA of The Black Rep, which is currently in its 49th season. Himes — who has long referred to King as “the godfather of Black theatre” — often spoke of him as both mentor and blueprint.
“I talked with Woodie probably twice a week for most weeks,” Himes said. “We had a really long conversation last weekend.” For years, The Black Rep honored that lineage through The Woodie Awards, celebrating excellence in Black theater. Today, the company continues to present the Woodie King Jr. Award at its annual gala, ensuring that his name remains a living part of the region’s artistic heartbeat.
“We will probably do a big tribute for Woodie during our 50th anniversary,” Himes said.
Across the country, tributes have poured in from artists whose careers were shaped by King’s unwavering belief in them.
Actor and director Elizabeth Van Dyke, one of King’s closest collaborators, reflected on the depth of his impact. “Woodie King Jr. was a giant — a visionary who saw us, heard us, and insisted that the world do the same,” said Van Dyke, who currently serves as NFT’s producing artistic director.
And Phylicia Rashad, in a statement released after his passing, described his work as a cultural inheritance. “He created a home for Black artists,” Rashad said. “A place where we could grow, experiment, and be seen.”
King’s productions told audiences that Black stories were central to the American narrative. His mentorship was a lifeline. His vision was a compass for generations of artists navigating an industry that often refused to acknowledge their genius.
He built stages where Blackness could be expansive — tender, radical, joyful, confrontational, poetic.
“I first saw the play in a bar on East 3rd Street,” King said of Shange’s iconic choreopoem in a 2019 interview with Inside New York. “A friend of mine was in it.”
He brought “For Colored Girls…” to NFT, which at the time could only seat 100 people.
“The lines were around the block,” King said. “We convinced Joe Papp to bring it to The Public Theater. And then it went to Broadway.”
King co‑produced the play’s Public Theater run in 1976 and the original Broadway production. He also produced “For Colored Girls…” in London, Australia and Los Angeles.
“She became the spokesperson for African American women at that time,” King said of Shange, who spent her formative years in St. Louis.
A 2020 Special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre is among King’s many honors, which also include an NAACP Image Award, two Audelco Awards, the Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors’ Equity Association, and induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
In St. Louis, King’s presence is felt every time a young actor steps onto The Black Rep stage with the confidence that their story matters. Every time the Woodie King Jr. Award is presented, it becomes a reminder that the godfather of Black theatre didn’t just open doors — he built new ones.
Woodie King Jr. leaves behind a family, a nation of artistic descendants and a legacy that will continue to shape American theater for generations.
“He gave countless artists their first opportunity,” Van Dyke said. “Their first stage — and their first belief that they belonged in this industry.”