- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 5½″ (1.66 m)
- James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for I Am Not Your Negro (2016), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) and American Playhouse (1980). He died on December 1, 1987 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
- ChildrenNone
- ParentsEmma BerdisDavid Baldwin
- RelativesGeorge Baldwin(Sibling)Wilmer Baldwin(Sibling)David Baldwin Jr(Sibling)Gloria Baldwin(Sibling)Ruth Baldwin(Sibling)Paula Baldwin(Sibling)Elizabeth Baldwin(Sibling)
- Was an acquaintance of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Marlon Brando. He attended King's March on Washington in 1963.
- Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Literary Arts series, issued 23 June 2004.
- At DeWitt Clinton High School he was literary editor of the school newspaper Magpie.
- Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 59-61. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.
- Attended DeWitt Clinton High School with photographer Richard Avedon.
- The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid: the state of being alone.
- Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
- The responsibility of a writer is to excavate the experience of the people who produced him.
- The American ideal, after all, is that everyone should be as much alike as possible.
- I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
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