Julian Mayfield

Julian Mayfield
Born	Julian Hudson Mayfield (1928-06-06)June 6, 1928 Greer, South Carolina, United States
Died	Washington, D.C., United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, director, writer, lecturer and civil rights activist.

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Julian Mayfield

Julian Hudson Mayfield (June 6, 1928 – October 20, 1984) was an American actor, director, writer, lecturer and civil rights activist.

Early life

Julian Hudson Mayfield was born on June 6, 1928, in Greer, South Carolina, and was raised from the age of five in Washington. He joined the US Army in 1947 before studying at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Career

Mayfield began his career in theatre, playing the role of Absalom Kumalo in the musical Lost in the Stars during 1949-50, before producing his own play Fire in 1951 and directing Ossie Davis' play Alice in Wonder in 1952. Starting at a very young age, Mayfield had a special linguistic and theatre talents that would later lead into his career path. However, following World War II, the Cold War began in 1947 in which Mayfield was required to take part in. According to an FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) document, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He soon realized violence wasn’t the answer to the problems around the world and in the United States. When he returned from War, Mayfield attended one of the first degree-granting black universities in the country, Lincoln University. While attending the university he began to get involved in writing and theater that fought for equal rights movement for African Americans in the United States. In his first acting role, he played Absalom Kumalo in the musical Lost in the Stars during 1949 and 1950, which had mixed reviews.

Mayfield moved to Puerto Rico in 1954 with his wife, Ana Livia Cordero, and while there published three novels - The Hit (1957), The Long Night (1958) and The Grand Parade (1961). Returning to the U.S.A. in 1959, he became involved with militant NAACP leader Robert F. Williams. Meanwhile as Mayfield fought for civil rights, at the end of August 1961 there was an incident in which white folks attacked Freedom Riders. In this clash between races, Julian Mayfield and Robert Williams abducted a white couple and were wanted by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). According to the FBI, “Mayfield, a free-lance writer, has been described as being a communist party (CP) synthesizer and to have been a CP member possibly as late as 1955. He has been connected in the past with other organizations which have been designated pursuant to Executive Order 10450” (FBI, p.1). Once Mayfield and William’s knew they were being tracked down, they both fled the country, but never once slowed down on the civil rights movement. Julian went to the country of Ghana where he became the writer-in-office for president Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. Also, during his time in Ghana he edited the African Review, which people read to learn about political and economical views on blacks. Williams fled to Cuba and Mayfield to Ghana, where he became writer-in-office of President Kwame Nkrumah in 1961, and edited the African Review, a political and economic journal. Mayfield established the international branch of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, and published a collection called Young Americans Abroad in 1963. After fleeing the United States, Mayfield stayed in Ghana for many years before visiting Spain and eventually coming back to America. He was then an aide to Forbes Burnham, the president of Guyana, between 1971 and 1974.

In his later life, when being on the run was over, Julian began produce and act in various films. One in which he is recognized for was, Up Tight! In 1968, “The film opens with documentary footage of the funeral procession of Martin Luther King, Jr., which is used as a backdrop for the film's fictional narrative” (Wiki, Up Tight). During his life he visited and lectured universities such as, NYU (New York University), University of Maryland and Cornell. Julian Mayfield’s inspiring journey ended when he passed away on October 20, 1984.

Over his lifetime, Mayfield lectured at Cornell University, New York University, University of Maryland, College Park and Howard University.

Selected filmography

• Virgin Island (1959)
• Up Tight! (1968)

Bibliography

Novels

• The Hit (1957)
• The Long Night (1958)
• The Grand Parade (1961)
• Tales of the Lido (unpublished manuscript)

Plays

• Fire (1951)
• 413 (?)

Non-Fiction

• Young Americans Abroad (1963)
• Which Way Does the Blood Red River Run? (?)
• Black on Black: A Political Love Story. In: Ten Times Black, Julian Mayfield (editor). New York: Bantam, 1972, pp. 125–149.

Sources

• Julian Mayfield at the Internet Movie Database
• Mayfield, Julian. The Hit, a Novel. New York City: Vanguard, 1957. Print. 
• Julian Mayfield." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.Mayfield, Julian. The Long Night. New York: Vanguard, 1958. Print 
• "FBI Documents on Julian Mayfield, 1961." United States Department of Justice, 19 Sept. 1961. Web. 3 Nov. 2015. 
• Pecinovsky, Tony. "The Other Blacklist": Red Scare's Impact on African Americans » Peoplesworld. People's World, 15 May 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. 
• Brooke, James. "JULIAN MAYFIELD, 56, AN ACTOR AND WRITER ON BLACK THEMES." The New York Times, 22 Oct. 1984. Web. 30 Oct. 2015. 
• Mayfield, Julian. The Grand Parade. New York: Vanguard, 1961. Print
• Up Tight. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 2 Nov. 2015