Maya Angelou Biography (1928-)

Original name, Marguerite (some sources cite Marguerita) Annie Johnson; surname is pronounced "an-ge-loo"; born April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, MO; daughterof Bailey (a doorkeeper and dietitian) and Vivian (a nurse and realtor; maiden name, Baxter) Johnson; married Enistasious "Tosh" Angelou (some sources cite surname as Angelos), 1950 (divorced, c. 1952); married Vusumzi Make (a lawyer and activist; divorced, 1963); married Paul Du Feu, December, 1973 (divorced, c. 1981); children: Clyde Bailey "Guy" Johnson (a writer).

Nationality: American
Gender: Female
Occupation: Writer, actress, singer, dancer, director, producer
Birth Details: April 4, 1928; St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Appearances
Calypso Heatwave, off-Broadway production, 1957
Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960
Queen, The Blacks, St. Mark's Playhouse, New York City, 1961 thenin Venice, Italy, and Berlin, West Germany (now Germany), both 1964
Mother Courage and Her Children, University of Ghana, 1964
Medea, Theatre of Being, Hollywood, CA, 1966
Elizabeth Keckley, Look Away, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1973
Stage Appearances; Major Tours
Porgy and Bess, U.S. Department of State tour, European and African cities, 1954-1955
Stage Work
Director
And Still I Rise, Ensemble Theatre, Oakland, CA, 1976
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, London, 1988
Producer
Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960
Film Appearances
Singer from Trinidad, Calypso Heat Wave, Columbia, 1957
Dancer, Porgy and Bess, Columbia, 1959
Aunt June, Poetic Justice, Columbia, 1993
Anna, How to Make an American Quilt (also known as American Quilt), Universal, 1995
Narrator, The Journey of August King, Miramax, 1995
Angelou on Burns (documentary), Taylored Productions, 1996
Narrator, Perfect Moment (documentary), 1996
Herself, Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future (documentary), Third World Newsreel, 1999
Herself, The Unfinished Journey (short documentary film), 1999
Film Work
Director
All Day Long, American Film Institute, 1974
Down in the Delta, Miramax, 1998
Television Appearances
Series
Host, Assignment America, 1975
Miniseries
Nyo Boto, Roots, ABC, 1977
Movies
Lelia Mae, "There Are No Children Here," ABC Theatre, ABC, 1993
Conjure woman, The Runaway, CBS, 2000
Specials
The Richard Pryor Special, NBC, 1977
The Richard Pryor Special, NBC, 1982
Moyers: Facing Evil (also known as Facing Evil), PBS, 1988
"James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket," American Masters, PBS, 1989
"The R.A.C.E." (also known as "The Race" and "Racism"), NBC News Special, NBC, 1989
Host, Who Cares about Kids?, PBS, 1992
The Alistair Cooke Salute, PBS, 1992
Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists, PBS, 1992
Malcolm X: The Real Story (also known as The Real Malcolm X), CBS, 1992
Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds (also known as DiscoveringFaith with Maya Angelou), PBS, 1992
The Changing of the Guard--A Pre-Inaugural Special, PBS, 1993
The 12 Most Fascinating People of 1993, ABC, 1993
Host, The Dvorak Concert from Prague--A Celebration (also known asDvorak Gala from Prague), PBS, 1994
A Century of Women (also known as A Family of Women), TBS,1994
Concert of the Americas (also known as The Kennedy Center Presents), PBS, 1994
Generation X: Black Voices of Reason, Rage, and Responsibility (also known as Congressional Black Caucus Town Meeting and GenerationX: Black Voices of Reason, Black Voices of Rage), syndicated, 1994
"Malcolm X: Make It Plain," The American Experience, PBS, 1994
The Gospel according to Jesus, Cinemax, 1995
Maya Angelou Talking with David Frost, PBS, 1995
Narrator, Elmo Saves Christmas, PBS, 1996
Voice, How Do You Spell God?, HBO, 1996
The Ark of the Spirit with Avery Brooks, TBS, 1996
Images of Life: Photographs That Changed the World, CBS, 1996
Herself, Porgy and Bess: An American Voice, PBS, 1998
Also host of Maya Angelou's America: A Journey of the Heart.
Episodic
Narrator, "The Slave Coast," Black African Heritage, CBS, 1972
"Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1991
Clarice Mitchell, "Reunion," Touched by an Angel, CBS, 1995
"Eight and a Half Months," The Gregory Hines Show, CBS, 1997
Herself, The Oprah Winfrey Show, syndicated, 1997
"Fired Up," Moesha, UPN, 1999
Sesame Street, PBS, 1999
Awards Presentations
The 22nd Annual NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1990
The Essence Awards, CBS, 1992
One Child, One Dream: The Horatio Alger Awards, NBC, 1993
Host, The 4th Annual Environmental Media Awards, TBS, 1994
Presenter, The Essence Awards, Fox, 1994

The Horatio Alger Awards, NBC, 1994
Presenter, The Horatio Alger Awards, CBS, 1995
Other
Presenter, "Trying to Make It Home," Byline, 1988
The Great Depression, 1993
Television Work
Producer; Series
Blacks, Blues, Black, National Educational Television (now PBS), 1968
Other
Also the producer of Three Way Choice: Afro-American in the Arts.
RECORDINGS
Albums
Miss Calypso (songs), Liberty Records, 1957
Women in Business, University of Wisconsin, 1981
Taped Readings
The Poetry of Maya Angelou, GWP Records, 1969
An Evening with Maya Angelou, Pacific Tape Library, 1975
Maya Angelou Reading from Her Work, Archive of Recorded Poetry, Library of Congress, 1984
On the Pulse of Morning, 1994
Black Pearls: The Poetry of Maya Angelou, Rhino, 1998
Videos
Creativity with Bill Moyers (also known as Maya Angelou), c. 1984
WRITINGS
Stage Plays
(With Godfrey Cambridge) Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), Village Gate Theatre, New York City, 1960
The Clawing Within, 1966
The Least of These (two-act), Los Angeles production, 1966
Adjoa Amissah (two-act), 1967
(Adaptor) Sophocles, Ajax (two-act), Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1973-1974
Encounters, Center Theater Group, Mark Taper Forum, 1973
And Still I Rise (based on her poetry), Ensemble Theatre, Oakland,CA, 1976
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, London, 1988
Screenplays
Georgia, Georgia, Cinerama, 1972
All Day Long, American Film Institute, 1974
And Still I Rise (documentary; adapted from her poem), [England],1993
Film Music
(With Quincy Jones) Song "You Put It on Me," For Love of Ivy, Cinerama, 1968
Film score and song "I Can Call Down Rain," Georgia, Georgia, Cinerama, 1972
Perfect Moment (documentary), 1996
Poetry Used in Films
Poems "Alone," "A Conceit," "In a Time," "A Kind of Love, Some Say," and"Phenomenal Woman," Poetic Justice, Columbia, 1993
Teleplays
Series
Blacks, Blues, Black, National Educational Television (now PBS), 1968
Assignment America, 1975
Miniseries
(With others) Brewster Place, ABC, 1990
Movies
(With Leona Thuna and Ralph B. Woolsey) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (based on her autobiography), CBS, 1979
(With John Berry) Sister, Sister, NBC, 1982
Specials
The Inheritors, 1976
The Legacy, 1976
Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists, PBS, 1992
Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds (also known as DiscoveringFaith with Maya Angelou), PBS, 1992
Who Cares about Kids?, PBS, 1992
Writer of Maya Angelou's America: A Journey of the Heart.
Other Writings for Television
"Trying to Make It Home," Byline, 1988
Also writer for Three Way Choice: Afro-American in the Arts and To the Contrary, PBS.
Autobiographies
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Random House (New York City), 1970
Gather Together in My Name, Random House, 1974
Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, Random House, 1976
The Heart of a Woman, Random House, 1981
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, Random House, 1986
Selections from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, Literacy Volunteers of New York City, 1989
(Lyricist with Alistair Beaton) King: A Musical Testimony (stage performance; also known as King), book by Lonne Elder III, music by Richard Blackford, London, 1990
Poetry Collections
Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water `fore I Diiie, Random House (New York City), 1971
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, Random House, 1975
And Still I Rise, Random House, c. 1978
Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?, Random House, 1983
Poems: Maya Angelou, four volumes, Bantam (New York City), 1986
Now Sheba Sings the Song, illustrated by Tom Feelings, Dial (New York City), 1987
I Shall Not Be Moved, Random House, 1990
On the Pulse of Morning, Random House, 1993
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, Random House, 1994
Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women, Random House, 1994
A Brave and Startling Truth, Random House, 1995
Also author of The True Believers, with Abbey Lincoln.
Writings for Children
Mrs. Flowers: A Moment of Friendship (juvenile fiction), illustrated by Etienne Delessert, Redpath Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1986
Life Doesn't Frighten Me (poems for children), edited by Sara JaneBoyers, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York City), 1993
(With others) Soul Looks Back in Wonder (juvenile anthology), illustrated by Tom Feelings, Dial (New York City), 1993
My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, C. N. Potter (New York City), 1994
Kofi and His Magic, photographs by Courtney-Clarke, C. N. Potter,1996
Nonfiction
Lessons in Living (essays), Random House (New York City), 1993
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (meditations), Random House, 1993
(With Rosamund Grant) Caribbean and African Cooking, Interlink Publishing Group (New York City), 1997
Even the Stars Look Lonesome, Random House, 1997
As Contributor
Andrew Buchwalter, editor, Culture and Democracy: Social and Ethical Issues in Public Support for the Arts and Humanities, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1992
Gerald Early, editor, Speech and Power: The African-American Essay andIts Cultural Content from Polemics to Pulpit, Ecco (Hopewell, NJ), 1992
David Lazar, editor, Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1992
John Singleton and Veronica Chambers, Poetic Justice: Filmmaking SouthCentral Style, foreword by Spike Lee, Delta (New York City), 1993
Charlie Reilly, editor, Conversations with Amiri Baraka, University Press of Mississippi, 1994
(And coeditor) Jontyle Theresa Robinson, editor, Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists, Rizzoli International Publications (New York City), 1996
Author of Forewords
(Author of introduction) Elliot Schneider, The Women of the Regent Hotel: The Unheard Voices of the Homeless in Poems, Child Development Centerof the Jewish Board of Family and Child Services (New York City), 1987
Patricia Bell-Scott, editor, Double Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers and Daughters, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1991
Margaret Courtney-Clarke, African Canvas: The Art of West African Women, Rizzoli International (New York City), 1991
Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on the Road, HarperCollins, 1991
Richard A. Long, African Americans: A Portrait, Crescent Books (New York City), 1993
Interviews
Jeffrey M. Elliot, editor, Conversations with Maya Angelou, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1989
Dannye Romine Powell, Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers, J. F. Blair (Winston-Salem, NC), 1994
Kelvin Shawn Sealey, editor, Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1997
Interviews of Angelou have also appeared in periodicals, including the Paris Review.
Anthologies
Maya Angelou Omnibus, Virago (London), 1991
Other Writings
Making Magic in the World, 1988
Author of short stories, including "Reunion"; author of the short story collection All Day Long. Contributor of articles, short stories, and poems to periodicals, including Black Scholar, Chicago Daily News, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Essence, Harper's Bazaar, Life, Mademoiselle, Millimeter, Ms., New YorkTimes, National Geographic, and Redbook. Songwriter for B.B. King.

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

The television movie America's Dream, released by HBO in 1996, wasbased on various works, including Angelou's short story "Reunion." The television special How Do You Spell God? was based on her poem "Thank You,Lord," and broadcast by HBO in 1996.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Bloom, Harold, editor, Maya Angelou, Chelsea House (Philadelphia,PA), 1998
Bloom, Harold, editor, Maya Angelou's Why the Caged Bird Sings, Chelsea House (New York City), 1995
Braxton, Joanne M., Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: ACasebook, Oxford University Press (New York City), 1998
Challener, Daniel D., Stories of Resilience in Childhood: The Narratives of Maya Angelou, Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodrigues, John Edgar Wideman, and Tobais Wolff, Garland Publishing (New York City), 1997
Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography Supplement: Modern Writers, 1900-1998, Gale, 1998
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 42, Gale, 1994
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale, Volume 12, 1980, pp. 9-10;Volume 35, 1985, pp. 29-33
Contemporary Southern Writers, St. James Press, 1999
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 38: Afro-American Writers after 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers, Gale, 1985, pp. 3-12
Elliot, Jeffrey M., editor, Conversations with Maya Angelou, University Press of Mississippi (Jackson, MS), 1989
Georgoudaki, Ekaterini, Race, Gender, and Class Perspectives in the Works of Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, and Audre Lorde, Aristotle University of the Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Greece), 1991
Hagen, Lyman B., Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou, University Pressof America (Lanham, MD), 1996
Kallen, Stuart A., Maya Angelou: Woman of Words, Deeds, and Dreams, Abdo and Daughters (Edina, MN), 1993
King, Sarah E., Maya Angelou: Greeting the Morning, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1994
Lisandrelli, Elaine Slivinski, Maya Angelou: More Than a Poet, Enslow Publishers (Springfield, NJ), 1996
Long, Richard A., African Americans: A Portrait, foreword by Angelou, Crescent Books (New York City), 1993
Major 20th-Century Writers, Gale, 1991, pp. 100-102
McPherson, Dolly Aimee, Order out of Chaos: The Autobiographical Worksof Maya Angelou, Peter Lang (New York City), 1990
Pettit, Jayne, Maya Angelou: Journey of the Heart, Lodestar Books(New York City), 1996
Powell, Dannye Romine, Parting the Curtains: Interviews with SouthernWriters, J. F. Blair (Winston-Salem, NC), 1994
Sealey, Kelvin Shawn, editor, Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 1997
Shapiro, Miles, Maya Angelou, introductory essay by Coretta ScottKing, Chelsea House (New York City), 1994
Shuker, Nancy, Maya Angelou, Silver Burdett Press (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1990
Singleton, John and Veronica Chambers, Poetic Justice: Filmmaking South Central Style, foreword by Spike Lee, Delta, 1993
Spain, Valerie, Meet Maya Angelou, Random House (New York City), 1994
Tate, Claudia, Black Women Writers at Work, Continuum (New York City), 1983
Who's Who among African Americans, 13th edition, Gale, 2000
Williams, Mary E., editor, Readings on Maya Angelou, Greenhaven Press (San Diego, CA), 1997
Women Filmmakers and Their Films, St. James Press, 1998

Periodicals

Black Scholar, summer, 1982
Black World, July, 1975
Detroit Free Press, May 9, 1986
Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1983
New Statesman, September 15, 1989, p. 37
New York Times, January 20, 1993
Paris Review, fall, 1990, pp. 145-167
People Weekly, March 8, 1982, p. 92
Times (London), September 29, 1986
Village Voice, July 11, 1974 October 28, 1981
Vogue, September, 1982, p. 416

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