Louis Stamford Peterson (June 17, 1922 – April 27, 1998) was an American playwright, actor, screenwriter, and professor. He was an American playwright and one of the first African-American playwrights to have a dramatic play produced on Broadway. He was also one of the first African-American writers to be nominated for an Emmy Award.
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Biography
Louis Stamford Peterson was born in Hartford, Connecticut on June 17, 1922. His father was Louis Peterson Sr., and his mother was Ruth Conover Peterson, who both worked in the banking business. He lived in the Hartford's South End, went to public schools, and graduated from Connecticut's Bulkeley High School in 1940. Peterson first planned to get a degree in music. In 1944 he graduated from Morehouse College earning a B.A. in English. In college he became involved in the Little Theatre and performed onstage. He attended Yale University (1944 to 1945), and then earned an M.A. in drama from New York University in 1947.
In New York Peterson performed in Off-Broadway plays, and studied acting with noted teacher, Sanford Meisner, at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and he also studied at the Actors Studio. He studied playwriting, and worked closely with Clifford Odets. His first play, Take a Giant Step, was written while he was touring as an actor and stage manager in Carson McCullers' play, The Member of the Wedding.