Elder was born one of five children in Georgia, but his family moved to New Jersey when he was a baby. He was orphaned by the age of 10 and went to live with an aunt and uncle.

During service in the Army he came under the influence of Robert Hayden of Fisk University, and after leaving the army he moved to Harlem, where he became a professional writer and actor. He also had jobs as a numbers runner (like his uncle), poker dealer, waiter and dock worker, and was active in the civil rights movement from about 1950 on.

The first play he acted in was A Raisin in the Sun in 1959. His own plays for the theater are: A Hysterical Turtle in a Rabbit's Race, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, Charades on East Fourth Street, Seven Comes Up Seven Comes Down, Splendid Mummer and King. He also wrote for television (NYPD for ABC, an adaptation of his own Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, and McCloud) and for the screen (Sounder, Melinda, The Terrible Veil, A Woman Called Moses, Sounder Part Two and Bustin' Loose).

References

Oxford Companion to African American Literature, edited by William L. Andrews, Frances Smith and Trudier Harris. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)
Contemporary Dramatists, edited by K.A. Berney. 5th edition. (London: St. James Press, 1993)
Bridges, Wallace. "Lonne Elder, III." Available at: http://www.bridgesweb.com/elder.html

Indexes

African
USA
20th Century
Civil Rights, Advocacy
Literature
Theater, Broadcasting, Cinema
School-age Years, Adolescence
Orphaned (Both Parents)
Uncles and Aunts, Parents' Uncles and Aunts
Parent(s) Died, Disappeared or Became Incapacitated