Arthur Kopit, 3-time Tony-nominated playwright, dies at 83
He was also a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.
By MARK KENNEDYAssociated Press
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NEW YORK Arthur Kopit, a three-time Tony Award-nominated playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist known for fusing disparate genres, absurdism and a darkly comic world view, has died. He was 83.
Kopit died Friday, said Rick Miramontez, a senior publicist at DKC/O&M PR. No other details were available.
Playwright Arthur Kopit in 1990 in Los Angeles.
Nick Ut/Associated Press, file
Kopit earned a Tony nod in 1970 for “Indians,” a critique of the Vietnam War and America’s treatment of Native Americans that starred Stacy Keach as Buffalo Bill. Nine years later, he received another nomination for “Wings,” the story of a stroke victim’s recovery starring Constance Cummings. Both “Indians” and “Wings” were Pulitzer finalists for drama.
Pulitzer-Nominated Playwright Arthur Kopit Dies at 83
Haley Bosselman, provided by
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The dramatist died Friday morning, as confirmed by publicist Rick Miramontez.
“Arthur was one of the most uncompromisingly original writers that America ever produced,” Maury Yeston, Kopit’s longtime friend and collaborator, said. Yeston served as composer on a number of Kopit’s works, including the musicals “Phantom” and “Nine.”
Yeston added, “A genuine born playwright, his work possesses the kind of universality that is understood by the entire human race, across all cultures and languages. The worlds he created come to life inside the minds of every audience member who has the good fortune of attending one of his shows. But his greatest trait even beyond his enviable brilliance was a generosity that knew no bounds.”
Arthur Kopit
A number of Kopit s works were adapted for the screen, including Indians, which became a film by Robert Altman.
Arthur Kopit, an award-winning playwright known for
Indians and
Without specifying a cause, his death was announced by spokesperson Rick Miramontez on Saturday.
Born in 1937, Kopit was educated at Harvard University. Among his early plays was
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma s Hung You in the Closet and I m Feelin So Sad, which Jerome Robbins directed on Broadway while Kopit was still an undergraduate student.
Kopit went on to receive Tony nomination and Pulitzer Prize finalist nod for his 1968 play