Award-Winning Broadway Playwright, Phillip Hayes Dean, Dead at 83, Wrote 'Paul Robeson'

 (L-R) Paul Robeson Playwright/Director Phillip Hayes Dean
and actor Keith David in rehearsal.  Photo by Malcolm Ali.

Phillip Hayes Dean, a playwright, director and actor in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and various regional theaters, died on Mon., Apr. 14, 2014 from a heart condition, a family spokesperson announced.  He was 83. 

Phillip Hayes Dean is best known for his Broadway play, Paul Robeson, performed by James Earl Jones in 1978, and in Avery Brooks’ revivals in 1988 and 1995, and now by Ebony Repertory Theatre’s production with Keith David, which Mr. Dean directed.

His play continues performances at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center and will close on Apr. 27, 2014.  Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and later in Pontiac, Michigan, Mr. Dean received his initial theater opportunity apprenticing at the Will-O-Way Playhouse in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. His first assignment was pulling the  curtain for the play, Life with Mother. He subsequently appeared in their production of Heaven Can Wait.  Later, he moved to New York City, where he appeared on Broadway in Wisteria Trees starring Helen Hayes and an all Black version of Waiting for Godot.   

Mr. Dean began writing plays in the 1960's. Some of his works include: The Last American Dixieland Band; Moloch Blues: The Owl Killer and Dink's Blues, The  American Nightmare, Thunder In The Index, This Bird Of Dawning Singeth All Night  Long, and Dream Of Passion. 

His plays have been produced throughout the United  States, and in New York City, at the American Place Theater (This Bird Of  Dawning Singeth All Night Long, Freeman, and Every Night When The Sun Goes  Down), and at the Negro Ensemble Company (The Sty of the Blind Pig). The Sty of the Blind Pig won the Hull-Warriner Award and the prestigious Drama Desk Award, and was named one of the season's ten best plays by Time magazine the year it  was produced.   His play, Paul Robeson, has had three Broadway productions, a London production, and has toured across the United States and Europe. He has worked extensively as a director and has taught acting and playwriting at the University of Michigan. 

Phillip makes his Los Angeles directing debut with this production.  Phillip Hayes Dean is survived by his loving wife, Patricia Dean. He is also survived by his daughters, Wendy and Karen and four grandchildren, and his brother Howard Dean. 

Services will be held in Los Angeles at a private ceremony.  A public memorial at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center Los Angeles is currently being planned and will be announced.  In lieu of flowers, donations in the memory of Phillip Hayes Dean can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center at SPLCenter.org or by calling 334-956-8200.