George C. Wolfe Biography
Born: September 23, 1954
Date of Birth: September 23, 1954
George C. Wolfe grew up in Frankfort, Kentucky and began to pursue his interest in the dramatic arts while still in grade school. At Frankfort High School, Wolfe directed and performed in several plays and wrote poetry and prose for his high school literary journal.
The actor, playwright and director received a BA in Directing from Pomona College in Claremont, California. After graduation, Wolfe taught at the Inner-City Cultural Center in Los Angeles for several years before moving to New York, where he earned his MFA in dramatic writing and musical theater at New York University.
Wolfe's first off-Broadway productions, the musical Paradise and the play The Colored Museum, were met with mixed reviews. It wasn't until his 1991 production, Jelly's Last Jam, a musical about jazz musician Jazz Roll Morton, that Wolfe received national notice. Jelly's Last Jam received 11 Tony nominations. Wolfe's first Tony Award came just two years later with Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.
From 1993 to 2004, Wolfe served as the Artistic Director and producer for the New York Shakespeare Festival. In 1996, he created the musical Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, a combination of tap and music which earned him his second Tony Award.
Although Wolfe made the decision to pursue film direction in 2004, he kept his hand in theater. He directed such plays as Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change, Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog, and a new translation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, starring
Wolfe's big screen directional debut was Nights in Rodanthe (2008), a romantic drama about a woman who retreats to Rodanthe to escape her chaotic life. Following this, he'll write and direct the Untitled Kanye West Project (2009), a portrait of the United States from the perspective of hip hop artist Kanye West and various filmmakers.
Although Wolfe is usually behind the camera, he can be seen in small roles in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Garden State (2004) and Fresh Kill (1994).
Filmography (Director):
Untitled Kanye West Project (2009)Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
Filmography (Actor):
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)Garden State (2004)
Fresh Kill (1994)