Brief Biography

Born:  October 18, 1906
Died:  March 20, 1995

“Sidney Kingsley Interview.”  Interview by Mike Wood.  Camera by Rich Wood.  Edit by Steve Worley.  February 22, 1988.  Oakland, New Jersey.  Site hosted by The William Inge Center for the Arts.  Video hosted by Wichita State University. 

Sidney Kingsley, “The Statesman for the American Theatre,” devoted his playwriting career to the forceful illumination of serious, difficult social issues American society. At the age of 28 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his drama about the medical profession, MEN IN WHITE. (1934). This was followed by DEAD END in 1935, which was the basis for a Presidential slum clearance commission and given a command performance at the White House.  Other plays which met with great success on Broadway were TEN MILLION GHOSTS; THE WORLD WE MAKE; THE PATRIOTS; THE DETECTIVE STORY; DARKNESS AT NOON; LUNATICS AND LOVERS and THE NIGHT LIFE.  Kingsley served as present of the Dramatist Guild of America and was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1983.