James Wigfall

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

James Wigfall (1942–1978) was an African-American theater artist who helped shape La MaMa ETC and later played the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz on Broadway. He acted in several early La MaMa shows, including two versions of The Maids (1964 and 1972) and Tom Eyen’s Three Drag Queens from Daytona (1973). He told a New York Daily News reporter that he wanted to revive The Maids in 1972 because of its political elements, noting it’s about love, hate, and self-hate. Wigfall also appeared on Broadway in Lenny (1971–1972) as The Cop/The Bishop, and as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz with Stephanie Mills at the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre (1977–1979). Director Tom O’Horgan credited Wigfall with introducing him to Ellen Stewart, founder of La MaMa, which helped O’Horgan connect with the company after Wigfall acted in an all-male version of The Maids in 1964. Wigfall died in 1978 at 36 from injuries in a traffic accident.