Charles Ludlam (April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright. At twenty-four, he founded the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, where he wrote, directed and performed in almost every production for the next two decades, often with Everett Quinton, his life partner and muse, by his side. Ludlam often appeared in his plays, and was particularly noted for his female roles. He wrote one of the first plays to address, though indirectly, the AIDS epidemic. Rights to perform his most well-known play, The Mystery of Irma Vep, include a stipulation that the actors must be of the same sex in order to ensure cross-dressing in the production. He won six Obie Awards over the course of his career, including a Sustained Excellence Obie Award two weeks before his death in 1987, and won the Rosamund Gilder Award for distinguished achievement in the theater in 1986. In 2009, Ludlam was inducted posthumously into the American Theater Hall of Fame.