Marion McClinton, Tony-Nominated Director of the Works of August Wilson, Dies at 65

Marion McClinton, a director who became known as one of the foremost interpretors of the plays of August Wilson, passed away on November 28 in St. Paul, MN, according to The New York Times. The cause of death was kidney failure. McClinton was 65.

In New York, McClinton lent his directorial hand to a number of plays by the late Wilson, including an acclaimed off-Broadway revival of Jitney (2000)—which earned McClinton an Obie Award—and the main-stem premiere of King Hedley II (2001), for which McClinton was Tony-nominated in his Broadway debut. McClinton later directed a Broadway revival of Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2003).

Wilson and McClinton first became acquainted in 1977, when McClinton's St. Paul-based Penumbra Theater mounted Wilson's first professional production, a play titled Black Bart and the Sacred Hills (McClinton appeared in the play as the narrator). McClinton and Wilson went on to launch a series of collaborations.

In addition to his work on Wilson's plays, McClinton's directorial résumé includes off-Broadway stagings of East Texas Hot Links (1994), Dancing on Moonlight (1995), Jar the Floor (1999), Carson McCullers (Historically Inaccurate) (2002), Talk (2002) and Roar (2004). McClinton also directed the main-stem premiere of Regina Taylor's Drowning Crow (2004), which marked his final Broadway credit.

McClinton is survived by his wife, Jan, his son, Jesse, and his siblings, Jean and Fred.