Murray Joseph Schisgal (November 25, 1926 – October 1, 2020) was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Life and career

Schisgal was born in Brooklyn,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, Irene (Sperling), a bank clerk, and Abraham Schisgal, a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

.Murray Schisgal, Who Brought the Absurd to the Mainstream, Dies at 93
/ref> Schisgal won his first recognition for the 1963

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

double-bill ''The Typists'' and ''The Tiger'', which received the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

. His 1965 Broadway debut, '' Luv'', was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Play and for Best Author of a Play. Other credits include ''

Jimmy Shine ''Jimmy Shine'' is a play with music. It was written by Murray Schisgal with music and lyrics by John Sebastian. The plot centers on its title character who is a struggling artist in Greenwich Village during the 1960s. Much of the story foll ...

'', '' 74 Georgia Avenue'', ''Naked Old Man'' and ''All Over Town'', which received a Drama Desk nomination. Schisgal also wrote ''The Love Song of Barney Kempinski'', which was the first presentation of '' ABC Stage 67'', and the screenplay for '' The Tiger Makes Out''. Along with

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...

, Schisgal co-wrote the screenplay for '' Tootsie'', for which he was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, and BAFTA, and for which he won awards from the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers G ...

New York Film Critics Circle The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, maga ...

National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...

and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Schisgal died on October 1, 2020, in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most popul ...

, at the age of 93.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Murray Schisgal at doolee.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schisgal, Murray American people of Russian-Jewish descent American television writers American male screenwriters 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Writers from Brooklyn 1926 births 2020 deaths American male television writers American male dramatists and playwrights American Jews 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state)