Article: Claude Purdy gave August Wilson his break in St. Paul; The director, renowned for his deep understanding of black culture, died in Alexandria, Va., at age 69.(NEWS)(Obituary)

Byline: ROHAN PRESTON; STAFF WRITER

Claude Purdy, the raspy-voiced director and Penumbra Theatre co-founder who was instrumental in the career of August Wilson, died Monday near Washington, D.C. He was 69.

"It was very unexpected," his wife, Jacqui Shoholm Purdy, said Tuesday. "He was having trouble breathing and it just escalated very quickly from pneumonia to congestive heart failure." He died at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia, she said. "Claude was a fantastic director with a deep well of understanding of black culture, aesthetics and spirituality," said veteran Penumbra actor James Craven, who worked with Purdy over the past three decades. ...

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