# James Wigfall

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**James Wigfall** (1942–1978) was an African-American theater artist best known for his early contributions to [La MaMa ETC](/source/La_MaMa_ETC) and his role as the [Cowardly Lion](/source/Cowardly_Lion) in the [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) musical *[The Wiz](/source/The_Wiz)*.

## Career

Wigfall appeared in several of the earliest productions staged at La MaMa—including in two separate productions of *[The Maids](/source/The_Maids)* (1964 and 1972) and [Tom Eyen](/source/Tom_Eyen)'s *Three Drag Queens from Daytona* in 1973.[1] He explained his reason for wanting to reprise *The Maids* in 1972 to a reporter from the *[New York Daily News](/source/New_York_Daily_News)* as being related to "the political aspects of the play." He believed *The Maids* was "about love and hate and self-hate".[2]

He later appeared on Broadway in several roles, including as The Cop/The Bishop in [Julian Barry](/source/Julian_Barry)'s *Lenny* at the [Brooks Atkinson Theatre](/source/Brooks_Atkinson_Theatre) (1971–1972), and as the Cowardly Lion alongside [Stephanie Mills](/source/Stephanie_Mills) in *The Wiz* at the [Majestic Theatre](/source/Majestic_Theatre_(Broadway)) and [Broadway Theatre](/source/Broadway_Theatre_(53rd_Street)) (1977–1979).

[Tom O'Horgan](/source/Tom_O'Horgan) credited Wigfall with introducing him to La MaMa ETC's founder, [Ellen Stewart](/source/Ellen_Stewart). O'Horgan was directing an "all male production" of *The Maids,* in his loft on 3rd Street in 1964. "Jimmy Wigfall was in it", O'Horgan explained to a *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)* reporter in 1972, "and one night he brought Ellen Stewart to see it, and she became completely enamored of it. That's how I met Ellen, and that's how I came to work at Cafe La Mama."[3]

## Death

Wigfall died in 1978, at the age of 36, from injuries he sustained in a traffic accident.[4]

## References

1. Robb Baker, *[After Dark](/source/After_Dark_(magazine))* October 1973, p. 79

1. Ernesto Leogrande, "That Old Servant Problem", *[New York Daily News](/source/New_York_Daily_News)*, January 4, 1972

1. [John Gruen](/source/John_Gruen), *[The New York Times Magazine](/source/The_New_York_Times_Magazine)*, January 2, 1972.

1. *Billboard* Magazine, August 12, 1978

## External links

- [Photograph](https://books.google.com/books?id=WL8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=james+wigfall+the+wiz&pg=PA34) of James Wigfall as the Cowardly Lion hugging First Lady [Betty Ford](/source/Betty_Ford) (*[Jet](/source/Jet_(magazine))* magazine, January 5, 1978)
- A publicity [photograph](https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/f69c1410-5cf4-0130-45c9-58d385a7b928) of Wigfall (by [Martha Swope](/source/Martha_Swope)), from *The Wiz* (1976).
- James Wigfall's [page](https://catalog.lamama.org/index.php/Detail/entities/5) at La MaMa Archives Digital Collections.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Wigfall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wigfall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wigfall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.