Murray Schisgal
Encyclopedia
Murray Schisgal is an American
playwright
and screenwriter
.
Native New Yorker
Schisgal won his first recognition for the 1963 off-Broadway
double-bill The Typists and The Tiger, which won him the Drama Desk Award
. His 1965 Broadway
debut, Luv
, earned him Tony Award
nominations for Best Play and Best Author of a Play. Additional credits include Jimmy Shine
, The Chinese and Dr. Fish, An American Millionaire, 74 Georgia Avenue, Twice Around the Park, and All Over Town
, which garnered him a Drama Desk nomination.
Schisgal also penned The Love Song of Barney Kempinski, the first presentation of ABC Stage 67
, and with Larry Gelbart
co-wrote the screenplay for Tootsie
, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA, and for which he won awards from the Writers Guild of America
, New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics
, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Native New Yorker
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Schisgal won his first recognition for the 1963 off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
double-bill The Typists and The Tiger, which won him the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
. His 1965 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut, Luv
Luv (play)
Luv is a play by Murray Schisgal.A mix of absurdist humor and traditional Broadway comedy more in the Neil Simon vein, Luv concerns two college friends - misfit Harry and materialistic Milt - who are reunited when the latter stops the former from jumping off a bridge, the play's setting. Each...
, earned him Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations for Best Play and Best Author of a Play. Additional credits include Jimmy Shine
Jimmy Shine
Jimmy Shine is an American musical with music and lyrics by John Sebastian and a musical book by Murray Schisgal. The plot of the musical centers on its title character who is a struggling artist in Greenwich Village during the 1960s...
, The Chinese and Dr. Fish, An American Millionaire, 74 Georgia Avenue, Twice Around the Park, and All Over Town
All Over Town
- Cast :*Ole Olsen as Olsen*Chic Johnson as Johnson*Mary Howard as Joan Eldridge*Harry Stockwell as Don Fletcher*Franklin Pangborn as The Costumer*James Finlayson as MacDougal*Eddie Kane as William Bailey*Stanley Fields as Slug*D'Arcy Corrigan as Davenport...
, which garnered him a Drama Desk nomination.
Schisgal also penned The Love Song of Barney Kempinski, the first presentation of ABC Stage 67
ABC Stage 67
ABC Stage 67 was the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and original musicals....
, and with Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
co-wrote the screenplay for Tootsie
Tootsie
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman,...
, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA, and for which he won awards from the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
, New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
.