Amiri Baraka
Biography
Amiri Baraka was an American poet, playwright, and essayist, as well as a writer of fiction and music criticism, who helped found the Black Arts Movement. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he published his first poetry collection, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, in 1961, and Blues People, his study of Black music, appeared in 1963. His play Dutchman, which premiered in 1964, won the Obie Award for Best American Play, and a film adaptation was released in 1967. He founded the Black Arts Repertory/Theater School in Harlem and later taught African Studies at Stony Brook University, becoming a full professor there in 1985. His honors included an American Book Award, a Langston Hughes Award, a Guggenheim fellowship and a PEN/Beyond Margins Award in 2008 for his book Tales of the Out and the Gone. He also took a supporting part in Warren Beatty's Bulworth (1998). He died in 2014.
79years old at death
- Born Newark
- Died Newark
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Everett LeRoi Jones (birth name)Also credited as Everett Leroy Jones, Imamu Amear Baraka, Imamu Amiri Baraka, LeRoi Jones and Imamu Baraka
Movie Career
- Films
- 8
- Career span
- 36 years1981 to 2017
Genres
- Documentary75%, 6 films
- Biography25%, 2 films
- Drama25%, 2 films
- Comedy13%, 1 film
- History13%, 1 film
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Did you know?!
A first
Baraka's first poetry collection, Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, came out in 1961. In 1962 he published an article, "The Myth of a 'Negro Literature'."
Behind the camera
Baraka started a record label named Jihad, which put out just three LPs in 1968. One of them featured Sun Ra, and on another Baraka reads his own poetry.
Amiri Baraka movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Amiri Baraka shares two films with John Waters, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
John Waters's page
William S. Burroughs's page
Morgan Freeman's page
Robert Downey Jr.'s page
Ellen Burstyn's page
Sean Astin's page
All films by Warren Beatty
Yony LeyserDirector, 1 film, 2010
All films by Yony Leyser
Roger NygardDirector, 1 film, 2010
All films by Roger Nygard
Awards
Five awards and honors from 1965 to 1998.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 1998 | Black Literary Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 1989 | Langston Hughes Medal | Won | |
| 1984 | American Book Awards | Won | |
| 1965 | Guggenheim Fellowship | Won | |
| National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship | Won | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.