Wright's famous novel Native Son was produced as a play on Broadway in 1941. Wright wrote the script along with Paul Green. Orson Welles directed. The play starred Canada Lee.

Native Son also was made into two motion pictures. Wright wrote the screenplay and played the lead role for the 1951 production, with Pierre Chenal directing. In 1986, Jerrold Freedman directed an updated version for Cinecom Pictures and American Playhouse (PBS).

In 1995, a full-length documentary on Wright's life entitled Richard Wright—Black Boy and produced by Madison Davis Lacy, aired on Mississippi Educational Television and the Independent Television Service (ITVS). The program won a Southeast Regional Emmy.

Both Native Son (read by James Earl Jones) and Black Boy (read by Brock Peters) are available from Caedmon Audio Cassette as tapes, or they can be downloaded at http://www.audible.com/