[2][3] One of his drawings as a young boy was bought by the Renaissance Society for twenty-five dollars and ended up being featured on their magazine cover.

[5][6] These works show a strong Modernist influence, specifically recalling the expressive faces and figures seen in the portraits of Picasso and Modigliani, while also referencing his interest in Byzantine icons.

[7] He was stationed at Camp Robert Smalls, a segregated section of the Great Lakes Naval Training base, north of Chicago.

Together, they produced several plays at Camp Smalls, including the “Ballad of Dorrie Miller,” which was dedicated to a black naval mess attendant who saved the lives of several of his shipmates at Pearl Harbor.

He was the recipient of a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Fund in 1945, and went on to co-write the successful 1954 Broadway musical, "Mrs. Patterson," which starred Eartha Kitt.