Encyclopedia article about the play Driving Miss Daisy which had its New York premiere on April 15, 1987, off Broadway at the Studio Theater at Playwrights Horizons. Written by Alfred Uhry and directed by Ron Lagomarsino, the original theatrical production featured a cast including Atlanta native Dana Ivey as Miss Daisy, Morgan Freeman as Hoke, and Ray Gill as Boolie. The play received a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and in 1989 it was adapted into a film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. The film received nine Academy Award nominations and won for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Makeup, and Best Screenplay. The play also ran for two seasons (1988-90) at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The plot centers on two characters, an elderly Jewish widow named Miss Daisy Werthan and her African American driver, Hoke Colburn.

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Cite as: "Driving Miss Daisy," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.

Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.