Photo: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0

James Baldwin

1924 – 1987 · died at about 63^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About James Baldwin

• James Baldwin was a boy preacher: at 14, "Brother Baldwin" first took to the altar of a Pentecostal church, where he learned he could do things with a crowd.^[1]
• In 1949, Baldwin was jailed in Paris over bedsheets a friend had taken from another hotel; the charges were dismissed to the laughter of the courtroom.^[1]
• Baldwin moved to Paris in 1948 with forty dollars to his name, having given most of his scholarship money to his mother.^[1]
• Baldwin met Marlon Brando at a theater class in 1944, and their friendship endured through the civil rights movement.^[1][3][4]
• As a schoolboy, Baldwin wrote a song that earned him a letter of praise from New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.^[1]
• Baldwin began writing his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, when he was 17, and it was first published in Paris.^[1]
• James Baldwin was alive at the same time as Lady Gaga — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1986–1987).^[1][2][5][6]
• James Baldwin and Jimmy Carter were both born in 1924.^[1][2][7][8]

James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels. His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality. His 1965 debate with William Buckley is regarded as one of the most influential debates on race in the United States. Baldwin was an influential public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.^[1]

Contemporaries

Hirohito

63 yr overlap

Bob Hope

63 yr overlap

Salvador Dalí

63 yr overlap

Dorothy Hodgkin

63 yr overlap

Mother Teresa

63 yr overlap

Akira Kurosawa

63 yr overlap

Jacques Cousteau

63 yr overlap

Rosa Parks

63 yr overlap

Ingmar Bergman

63 yr overlap

Frank Sinatra

63 yr overlap

Roald Dahl

63 yr overlap

Ella Fitzgerald

63 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About James Baldwin

When was James Baldwin born?

James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, and died on December 1, 1987.

How old was James Baldwin at death?

James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, and died on December 1, 1987, at age 63.

What was James Baldwin known for?

James Baldwin was known for: Go Tell It on the Mountain, civil rights essayist. James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels. His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality. His 1965 debate with William Buckley is regarded as one of the most influential debates on race in the United States. Baldwin was an influential public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.

Who was alive at the same time as James Baldwin?

James Baldwin's closest contemporary was Hirohito. Their lives overlapped for 63 years.