Kenny Leon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kenny Leon
Born	Kenneth Leroy Leon (1956-02-10) February 10, 1956 (age 69) Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater	Clark Atlanta University
Occupation	Director, producer, actor

Kenny Leon is an American director and actor. He is famous for his many works on Broadway (New York City's theater district) and television. He has also worked a lot in local theaters. Kenny Leon has won a Tony Award and a Drama League Award. He has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Leon won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for directing A Raisin in the Sun in 2014. He was also nominated for Tony Awards for Fences (2010) and A Soldier's Play (2019). He has directed other important plays like Radio Golf (2007), Topdog/Underdog (2022), Purlie Victorious (2023), and Our Town (2024). He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for directing Hairspray Live! (2017), American Son (2019), and Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (2021).

Early Life and Education

Growing Up in Florida

Kenny Leon was born in Tallahassee, Florida, on February 10, 1956. His father is Leroy Leon, and his mother is Annie Ruth. He has five brothers and sisters. In Tallahassee, he lived with his grandmother, Maime Wilson Roberts Harris. He went to a small one-room school house.

When he was nine years old, he moved from Tallahassee to St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended 16th Street Junior High and Northeast High School.

Discovering Theater in High School

In high school, Kenny Leon joined a program called Upward Bound. This program helps students with their studies and culture. He acted for the first time in a play through this program. Angela Bassett, who later became a famous actress, was also a theater student in the program. Kenny Leon graduated from Northeast High School in 1974.

College and Career Path

For college, Leon went to Clark Atlanta University. He earned a degree in political science in 1978. After college, he started law school. However, in 1979, he decided to leave law school. He returned to Atlanta to follow his dream of working in theater.

Career Highlights

Starting in Atlanta Theater

Kenny Leon got his first big chance working at the Academy Theatre in Hapeville, Georgia. In 1988, he became an associate artistic director at the Alliance Theatre Company. This was the biggest theater company in Atlanta.

In 1990, he became the artistic director of the Alliance Theatre. This made him one of the few African Americans to lead a large non-profit theater company in the United States. During his time there, the company put on new plays like Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. They also premiered the musical Aida, which later moved to Broadway. The Alliance's money also grew a lot while he was in charge.

Moving to Broadway and Beyond

Kenny Leon left the Alliance Theatre in 2000 to work on other projects. He helped start the Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. This group is based in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C.. He also started directing shows on Broadway.

In 2004, he directed a new version of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. This play starred Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, and Audra McDonald. It was his first time directing on Broadway. Later that year, he directed the Broadway premiere of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean.

In 2005, he directed Margaret Garner, an opera with words by Toni Morrison. In 2007, he directed August Wilson's Radio Golf. All three of these plays were nominated for Tony Awards. Leon was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award for A Raisin in the Sun. He also directed the TV version of A Raisin in the Sun, which aired in 2008.

Award-Winning Director

In 2010, Kenny Leon was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Director for his work on August Wilson's Fences. This play starred Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, who both won awards for their acting.

In 2014, he directed another Broadway version of A Raisin in the Sun. This time, it starred Denzel Washington and LaTanya Richardson Jackson. For this play, Leon won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. That same year, he directed the Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, which featured music by the rapper Tupac Shakur.

Directing Live TV Musicals

In 2015, Leon directed the live TV musical The Wiz for NBC. He worked with Cirque du Soleil on this production. In 2016, Leon worked with NBC again to direct Hairspray Live!. This show starred famous singers and actors like Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, and Kristin Chenoweth.

Other Projects and Acting

Besides directing, Kenny Leon has also acted on stage, TV, and in movies. He appeared in the movie Big Ain't Bad, playing the mayor of Atlanta. His book about his life, called Take You Wherever You Go, was released in June 2018. The title comes from advice his grandmother gave him.

In 2019, Leon directed the Netflix movie American Son. This movie was based on a play he had directed earlier. Also in 2019, he directed the Broadway premiere of Charles Fuller's play A Soldier's Play. This play won a Pulitzer Prize and starred Blair Underwood and David Alan Grier. He also directed Much Ado About Nothing in New York City's Shakespeare in the Park.

In May 2022, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta showed Trading Places: The Musical!, which Leon directed. He continues to direct many important plays on Broadway and in other theaters.

Works

Television Director

Television Actor

Stage Director

Stage Actor

See also

• African-American Tony nominees and winners