96 stories by "Richard Sandomir"
He helped create Buckwheat, Mister Robinson and other characters Mr. Murphy played on “Saturday Night Live,” and was a writer of films like “Coming to America.”
He worked on 13 Francis Ford Coppola films, including “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now,” and recreated the Las Vegas Strip for “One From the Heart.”
Trained as a playwright, he got his first TV writing job on "St. Elsewhere," then worked on "Homicide: Life on the Street," "The Wire," "Treme" and "Bosch."
A favorite of actors like Maggie Smith, he produced dozens of plays, including "The Audience," about Queen Elizabeth II, which was made into the Netflix show "The Crown."
Entranced by traditional Balinese puppet theater, he developed a modern, multicultural version that he performed around the world.
In a distinguished career in classical and contemporary plays, she drew acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic for her dramatic portrayal of the French singer Édith Piaf.
He played memorable screen villains, notably a psychopath in "Manhunter," but also wrote, directed and starred in well-received plays at a theater he founded in Manhattan.
A Disney fan who once "flew" off his couch as a 4-year-old Peter Pan, he was a co-director of the animated film and a co-writer of the Broadway musical, both of them megahits.
His silly, vaudeville-style variety show was filled with his piano playing, skits, puppets and guest stars like Cyndi Lauper and Bon Jovi.
She was a founder and the longtime artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, a repertory theater in western Massachusetts, and directed all his plays.
He was a familiar face from Broadway productions of "Company," "Titanic" and "Six Degrees of Separation" and numerous film and TV appearances.
She won the award for her performance as Linda Loman in a 1999 Broadway revival of "Death of a Salesman" and played the matriarch Kate Jerome in two Neil Simon comedies.
She also had leading roles in "Doctor Dolittle" with Rex Harrison, "Walk, Don't Run" with Cary Grant and "The Molly Maguires" with Sean Connery.
After quietly helping Mel Brooks set the irreverent tone on "Get Smart" and "The Producers," she had a long collaboration as a writer with the actor and humorist Marshall Efron.
In his nearly long partnership with Dwight Hemion, he produced specials, awards shows and extravaganzas, winning numerous Emmy Awards. He also won several on his own.
He staged a revival of "The Crucible" in a Manhattan hotel ballroom in 1958, helped run Circle in the Square and oversaw the operations of Jujamcyn Theaters.
Though best known for comedy, he also played serious roles, including a sinister sheriff in "Mississippi Burning." The director Alan Rudolph cast him in nine films.
He is believed to have been the first Asian to dance with New York City Ballet when he was cast in George Balanchine's production of "The Nutcracker."
He sang arias on the streets of San Francisco, performed on Broadway and collaborated on a musical about Al Jolson, which he also starred in.
As a young immigrant from the Philippines, he had roles on Broadway in "The King and I" and "Flower Drum Song." He was later a familiar face on TV.
Like Nichols and May before them, Monteith and Rand had their own Broadway show. Unlike Nichols and May, they faded from view after they broke up.
After more than 40 years as a stage and television actor, he broke through in "Heisenberg" as a butcher who has a romance with a much younger woman.
An operatic soprano, she had high-profile roles on film and stage in the 1950s. But after that, she mostly spent her career away from the limelight.
She originated roles in four of his Broadway musicals between 1959 and 1987, and won a Drama Desk Award for her performance in "Sweeney Todd."
The show, with music by Marvin Laird, portrayed a schoolgirl's murderous theatrical ambition. Paley also performed in the parody dance group Les Ballets Trockadero.
