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Alice Childress (October 12, 1920 in Charleston, South Carolina — August 14, 1994 in New York City, NY) was an American playwright and author.

Childress was born in South Carolina, but at age nine, after her parents separated, she moved to Harlem where she lived with her grandmother. Though her grandmother had no formal education, she encouraged Alice to pursue her talents in reading and writing. Alice attended public school in New York for her middle school and high school education. She became involved in theater immediately after her graduation. In the 1940s, she studied Drama in the American Negro Theatre (ANT). There she won acclaim as an actress in numerous productions, and moved to Broadway with the transfer of ANT's hit comedy Anna Lucasta. Alice also became involved in social causes. She formed an off-broadway union for actors. Her first play, Florence, was produced off-Broadway in 1950. She was the first black woman to have a play produced professionally, and is also the first woman to win an OBIE award

Alice Childress is also known for her literary works. Among these are Those Other People (1989) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1973). Also, she wrote a screenplay for the 1978 film based on A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. Childress described her writing as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Alice Childress", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0