![Ken Grimes](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/10/Ken-Grimes.jpg)
Denver's arts community is mourning the loss of playwright, director and actor Ken Grimes.
A fixture in Denver's arts scene, Grimes had written, directed, and acted in dozens of plays since he was a teenager. He died of ALS last week at the age of 74.
“Ken was one of the greatest and he was around for such a long time -- it's still hard for me to put it in past tense,” longtime friend and collaborator Khadija Haynes, co-founder of the Colorado Black Arts Movement, told Colorado Matters.
![](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/10/Ken-Grimes-2.jpg)