Activist, Playwright Doric Wilson Dies

Doric Wilson, a noted playwright and gay rights activist, has died at 72, reports Playbill.

Wilson was one of the first resident playwrights at the legendary Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village, where the careers of many fledgling Off-Off-Broadway playwrights we relaunched. Among his better known plays are Pretty People, Babel Babel Little Tower, and Now She Dances!

Playbill reports that after Wilson spent the 1960s involved in the anti-war movement and fighting for civil rights he "was present on June 28, 1969, when riots broke out at the Stonewall Inn." Later, he was active "in Gay Activist Alliance and, as a 'star' bartender, helped open post-Stonewall gay bars like the Spike, TY's, and Brothers & Sisters Cabaret."

Wilson served as grand marshal of New York's Pride parade in 2004 and last year was featured in the documentary Stonewall Uprising.