A celebration of August Wilson’s 70th birthday By Steve Mellon Share on Facebook Share on Twitter August Wilson in April of 2001. The celebrated American playwright was born April 27, 1945. (Bill Wade/Post-Gazette) August Wilson in the Hill District on Bedford Avenue. (Bill Wade/Post-Gazette) At the 2001 New York City premiere of “King Hedley II”, playwright August Wilson who holds his daughter Azula,3, in front of the Virginia Theatre. (Bill Wade/Post-Gazette) August Wilson talks with actor Anthony Chisholm during rehearsal of Wilson’s play “Radio Golf” at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., in 2005.(AP Photo/ Michelle McLoughlin) On the set for “Fences” at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 1999 are, from left, Keith Glover, Marion McClinton, August Wilson and John Henry Redwood. (Bill Wade/Post-Gazette) Pallbearers bring August Wilson’s casket out of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall after a celebration of Wilson’s life. (Andy Starnes/Post-Gazette) Sakina Ansari-Wilson, daughter of August Wilson, immediately following the unveiling of the historical marker at Wilson’s childhood home at 1727 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District. (Andy Starnes/Post-Gazette) Paul Ellis Jr., a nephew of August Wilson, holds a portrait of the playwright in one of the small, humble rooms at 1727 Bedford Avenue in the Hill District. Wilson spent his formative childhood years in these rooms. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette) Related Photos, Pittsburgh, Wide View