King was born in
Bladon Springs, Alabama, United States, on July 27, 1937. After his parents separated, he and his mother moved to
Detroit, Michigan. He graduated high school in 1956. He then started a job at the
Ford Motor Company as an arc welder. From 1958 to 1962 King attended The Will-O-Way School of Theatre in Detroit on a scholarship. After moving to New York in 1964, King was awarded the John Hays Whitney Fellowship to study theatre direction and administration at
The American Place Theatre. In 1999, he graduated from
Brooklyn College in New York with a M.F.A. in Theater with a concentration in Directing. In 2008, King was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters by Lehman College. King held a doctorate in Humane Letters from
Wayne State University. He also held honorary doctorate degrees from the
College of Wooster and
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. ==Death==