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Burt Lancaster could be just about anything you needed him to be — except small. He was not towering at 6'1", but he sure made it look that way on screen. Whether smiling or glowering, good natured or pure evil, there was a formidable bearing to Lancaster. But he did not lumber. God no, he was as graceful as a circus acrobat because, well, he was one. How dare a man so sturdy be so damn limber. And golden. And beautiful.

Lancaster's acting career was as remarkable as his absurdly perfect physicality. He made his motion picture debut in a stone-cold classic, and was one of the most popular movie stars on the planet for well over a decade. Lancaster worked too frequently to not slip up on occasion, but he generally exhibited great taste, particularly as a producer. His partnership with Harold Hecht (and later James Hill) yielded three Best...

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “Serendipity” is an unplanned, fortunate discovery, which refers to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.” A few years ago, in one of our weekly talks about events that impacted us profusely, one of my colleagues talked about chance encounters, the things that happen to us when we least expect them, a concept called “Serendipity”, the occurrence and development of events by chance happily or beneficially.

I am someone who used to believe in destiny, soulmates, and unexpected encounters turning into something incredible like a Christmas game leading to a beautiful friendship, and a misplaced seating arrangement leading to meeting an incredible person. Come what may, the events and the moments immediately after still stay special. When you want something, if that’s what’s meant to be,...

A Hollywood film is incomplete without a passionate kiss that leaves the viewers feeling the entire zoo in their stomachs. Will Smith has had his fair share of intimate moments in front of the camera but there was a film where he refused to lock lips with his co-star. Why? Well, Denzel Washington may have had something to do with it all.

Six Degrees of Separation (1993) | Credits: New Regency

Years ago, Will Smith played a gay character in Six Degrees of Separation. He was supposed to engage in a kiss with his male co-star but eventually ended up refusing the idea after consulting Denzel Washington. While he did go on to regret saying no, it looks like Denzel Washington has finally come around after his gay kiss was cut from Gladiator 2.

Denzel Washington’s Advice to Will Smith Anthony Michael Hall and Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation | Credits:...

Last month playwright Jez Butterworth brought his latest work, “The Hills of California,” to Broadway. The haunting family drama explores the relationships between four sisters and their dying mother in their creaky seaside home, seamlessly moving back and forth in time between 1976 and 1955. The play previously bowed in London earlier this year, and before coming stateside it earned two Olivier Award nominations for Best New Play and Best Actress for Laura Donnelly, who reprises her performance in New York.

Since his Broadway debut only 13 years ago, Butterworth has quickly established himself as one of the theater’s most accomplished contemporary playwrights. He has two Tony nominations to his name, for New York debut “Jerusalem” in 2011 and for his Tony-winning epic “The Ferryman” in 2019. Those nominations alone already tie him with theater royalty including Ayad Akhtar, Tony Kushner, Tracy Letts, David Mamet, Lynn Nottage, Eugene O’Neill, and Wendy Wasserstein — all...

Exclusive: Following a Tony season in which it collected 28 nominations and a number of notable wins, UTA has upped Patrick Herold and Rachel Viola to co-heads of its theater practice.

Based in the agency’s New York office, the pair will oversee day-to-day operations of the department and report to Jay Gassner, partner and co-head of talent; and Allan Haldeman, partner and co-head of TV lit.

Herold joined UTA in 2022 after nearly 20 years at ICM, where he was a partner and head of theater. His previous roles in the industry have included owning literary agency Helen Merrill Ltd. and holding the posts of associate general manager of Lincoln Center Theater, director of development at New York Theatre Workshop and trustee of Dramatists Play Service.

Herold’s clients include the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Sam Shepard, Horton Foote, Moss Hart, Tina Howe, Christopher Durang, and Wendy Wasserstein. He...

Christopher Durang, one of American’s most acclaimed and accomplished playwrights whose works like Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike were as incisive as they were absurdly comic, died Tuesday night at his home in Pipersville, Pa., in Bucks County. He was 75.

His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.

Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 16, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy, which honors an individual’s body of work? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year these honors went to actor Joel Grey and composer John Kander. The following living male Broadway vets have also received this award in the past and thus won’t be chosen again: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Marshall W. Mason, Tommy Tune, James Earl Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Harold Wheeler.

Here are 10 possibilities featured in our poll below, all accomplished men over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored. And take a...

Playwright Christopher Durang has been named the recipient of The Dramatists Guild of America’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, joining a prestigious roster of such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.

The Guild’s annual awards ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 6, at New York City’s Sony Hall. No word yet on whether the celebrated Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike playwright, who has been out of the public eye since a diagnosis of progressive aphasia was disclosed two years ago, will attend.

“It’s a privilege to celebrate Christopher Durang with the Dramatists Guild’s highest honor, in recognition of his singular voice and his enduring impact on generations of other writers,” said Lloyd Suh, chair of the Dramatists Guild’s Awards Committee, in a statement. “His grace, wit, charm, and generosity are an example to all of us in the community of American dramatists.

It's hard to imagine "Frasier" without the supporting cast that made it such a beloved show. That said, we don't have to imagine. The recent "Frasier" revival show, which is neither disappointing nor remarkable, has given us a glimpse of what the stellar '90s sitcom would have looked like if Kelsey Grammer's fussy psychiatrist was surrounded by less likable characters.

In the original series, Grammar was brilliant as Dr. Crane, but much of that was down to how well he played off the rest of the cast. Whether it was David Hyde Pierce's Niles, Jane Leeves' Daphne, or Peri Gilpin's Roz, each member of the cast brought something unique to the show that helped highlight various aspects of the titular doctor's flawed yet endlessly endearing personality.

On the revival, however, that same magic just isn't quite there. Still, it seems the producers weren't entirely unaware of...

Mike Nussbaum, the late-blooming Chicago actor who portrayed the aging salesman George Aaronow in the original Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross, just one of his many collaborations with David Mamet, has died. He was 99.

Nussbaum died Saturday — six days shy of his 100th birthday — at his home in Chicago, his daughter, Karen, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

He acted on Windy City stages for more than a half-century and received a lifetime achievement award from the League of Chicago Theaters in 2019.

On the big screen, Nussbaum played the book publisher Bob Drimmer in Fatal Attraction (1987), a school principal in Field of Dreams (1989) and the alien jewelry store owner Gentle Rosenburg in Men in Black (1997).

Nussbaum and Mamet first met in the late 1960s, and the future Pulitzer Prize winner would cast him as Teach in the 1975 premiere of his three-man drama American Buffalo at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. He...

André Bishop will conclude his 33-year leadership tenure at Lincoln Center Theater in June 2025 at the conclusion of the non-profit theater company’s 40th anniversary 2024-25 season.

Bishop, whose celebrated tenure as Lct’s Artistic Director and more recently Producing Artistic Director included the premieres of such acclaimed new works as Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia and Arcadia, Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig, and The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, to name a very few, announced his intended departure today.

“My years at Lincoln Center Theater have been happy ones,” he said in a statement, “and I will miss working with all my friends and colleagues. But the time has come, as it inevitably does, for the next generation to step in and step up. I look forward to that. Lct has...

Exclusive: Jesús I. Valles’ play Bathhouse.pptx has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize, with the honor’s judge Jeremy O. Harris calling the new work an exploration of “a queer history that is quickly being erased.”

The prize for emerging playwrights, now in its 16th year, was selected from more than 1,500 entries. As is the prize’s custom, Harris, the author of Slave Play and a Yale alum, was the selection process’ presiding playwright, or sole judge. Previous judges have included Edward Albee, David Hare, John Guare, Marsha Norman, Nicholas Wright, Ayad Akhtar and Paula Vogel.

“This is one of the most exciting speculative fictions I’ve encountered in years,” Harris said, “using a unique dramaturgy to explore a queer history that is quickly being erased. It brought to mind the works of many heroes like Samuel Delaney, Martin Crimp, and Kathy Acker.”

Winning playwright Velles said,...

Exclusive: CAA on Tuesday announced its signing of Allison Janney — the Academy Award-winning actress who has also been recognized over the course of her career with six Emmys, a Golden Globe, 7 SAG Awards, 2 Critics’ Choice Awards, a BAFTA, an Independent Spirit Award and other accolades.

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Janney most recently exec produced and starred opposite Jurnee Smollett and Logan Marshall-Green in the action-thriller Lou, produced for Netflix by J.J. Abrams. She also appears in the Michael Morris drama To Leslie, which recently brought Andrea Riseborough her first Academy Award nomination, and from 2013-2021 starred in eight seasons of the acclaimed CBS sitcom Mom, created by Gemma Baker, Eddie Gorodetsky and Chuck Lorre.

Charles Kimbrough, the Emmy-nominated actor best known for his splendid decade-long portrayal of staid network anchor Jim Dial on Murphy Brown, has died. He was 86.

Kimbrough died Jan. 11 in Culver City, his son, John Kimbrough, told The New York Times.

A veteran of the stage, Kimbrough received a Tony Award nomination in 1971 for best featured actor in a musical for playing Harry in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. He then appeared as two characters in another acclaimed Sondheim musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park With George, which debuted in 1984.

Kimbrough also starred in 1995 in the original off-Broadway production of the A.R. Gurney comedy Sylvia opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and appeared on the Great White Way in Candide, Same Time, Next Year, Accent on Youth, Hay Fever, The Merchant of Venice and, most recently, with Jim Parsons in a 2012 revival of Harvey.

The Minnesota native also...

Exclusive: Patrick Herold, who served as Partner and Head of Theater at ICM Partners for nearly two decades, has moved to UTA as an agent in the Theatre division. He will be based in New York and report to Partner & Head of Theatre, Mark Subias. Herold is the latest ICM agent to leave following the agency’s acquisition by CAA.

Herold brings with him a stellar roster of long-term clients including the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill and Sam Shepard; writers Lisa Kron and Doug Wright; composers Cyndi Lauper and Stephen Trask; and directors Christopher Ashley, Michael Greif and Julie Taymor.

Additionally, his clients, all of whom are expected to join him at UTA, include the estates of Horton Foote, Moss Hart and Wendy Wasserstein; theater luminaries Athol Fugard and John Guare; playwrights Richard Nelson and Paul Rudnick; composers and lyricists Rosanne Cash, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie; directors Walter Bobbie,...

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, will return to Broadway this fall in a 20th anniversary production directed by Kenny Leon and starring In the Heights‘ Corey Hawkins and Watchmen‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

The strictly limited 16-week engagement will begin previews on Tuesday, September 27, at Broadway’s John Golden Theatre. The production officially will open on Thursday, October 20.

Tickets are set to go on sale Monday, June 20, Juneteenth National Independence Day.

The production is being produced by David Stone, Lachanze, Rashad V. Chambers, Marc Platt, Debra Martin Chase, and the Shubert Organization.

Hawkins and Abdul-Mateen II will play brothers Lincoln and Booth, respectively, in Parks’ “darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity.” Topdog/Underdog tells the story of the two brothers Lincoln and Booth — named as a joke by their father — who are haunted by the past and their obsession with three-card monte, the street con game.

Exclusive: Jeremy O. Harris, the Tony-nominated author of Slave Play, has been named the presiding playwright for the 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize, one of the theater world’s most prestigious playwriting prizes. As the presiding playwright, Harris, a Yale alum, becomes a judging panel of one to select an emerging playwright to receive the annual prize.

Harris joins the ranks of such previous presiding playwrights as Edward Albee, David Hare, John Guare, Marsha Norman, Nicholas Wright, Ayad Akhtar and, most recently, Paula Vogel.

“If only the entire theater world was as democratic, meritocratic, and pluralistic as the Yale Drama Prize,” said Harris in a statement. “There is an entire generation of playwrights who have been fighting to be heard – especially in light of the pause button pushed by the pandemic, and this is our opportunity to thrust a chosen few directly into the global cultural conversation. These are the next...

Exclusive: A major new Ivo van Hove stage adaptation of Stephen King’s horror classic The Shining is in the works for a 2023 West End debut, with an A-list creative team in place and Ben Stiller in talks to play the role of the crazed, haunted dad Jack Torrance.

Rehearsals are set to begin in the fall, with London performances targeted for January 2023. An eventual move to Broadway is expected.

Sources tell Deadline that director van Hove, last seen on Broadway pre-pandemic with the reworked West Side Story, will lead the creative team, with Tony winner Simon Stephens adapting the King novel.

Deadline first reported about a planned stage adaptation in 2017, and plans for a West End...

Prodigal Son actor Esau Pritchett has joined the cast of Broadway’s upcoming Thoughts of a Colored Man, replacing Keith David, who is leaving the production due to a private family matter.

The cast change was announced today by producers Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Diana Dimenna, Kandi Burruss, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Samira Wiley, The Shubert Organization, and The Nederlander Organization.

“The company of Thoughts of a Colored Man supports The David Family during this time,” Moreland said in a statement, “and we are also elated to welcome a new member to the family.” Details about David’s family matter were not disclosed.

Pritchett, who made his Broadway debut in a 2010 Lincoln Center Theater production of John Guare’s A Free Man Of Color, is best known to TV audiences for his recurring roles on Fox’s Prodigal Son and the Starz Network drama Power: Book II Raising Kanaan.

Thoughts of a Colored Man,...

Exclusive: Lionsgate prevailed in an auction for worldwide rights to make Fascinating Rhythm, the John Carney-directed musical drama based inspired by the life of American composer George Gershwin. Carney co-wrote the script with Chris Cluess (Sctv and Night Court). The deal was locked down by Joe Drake, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.

Fascinating Rhythm will tell the story of a young woman’s magical journey through past and present New York City, infused with Gershwin’s life and music. Irwin Winkler is producing with Martin Scorsese, along with Charles Winkler and David Winkler. It will be fast tracked by Lionsgate.

From the time he debuted as a directed with the celebrated Once, Carney has shown a strong flair for injecting a musical shorthand into films that also have included Begin Again and Sing Street, and he was showrunner of Modern Love. He has been poised for a big mainstream movie breakout,...

Here’s a hot one. Film world titans Martin Scorsese and Irwin Winkler are teaming up with Modern Love showrunner and Begin Again director John Carney on the musical feature Fascinating Rhythm, inspired by the life and music of legendary American composer George Gershwin.

Oscar winners and regular production partners Scorsese and Winkler will produce, with Carney set to direct and co-write.

The trio have developed the original musical drama (named after the famous Gershwin song), which is described to us as “a young woman’s magical journey through past and present New York City, inspired by the life and music of American composer George Gershwin.”

We hear the Gershwin estate is on board and the film will feature the iconic composer’s music throughout.

Endeavor Content, which also developed and packaged, is out to market on the hot package.

Gershwin’s compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. Among...

John Belushi’s kinetic energy and skill at physical comedy made him a larger than life performer during his short run as a superstar on “Saturday Night Live” and in movies such as 1978’s “Animal House” and 1980’s “The Blues Brothers.”

But Belushi’s work off-camera as a writer and director, from his earliest days in the Second City improv troupe, was considerable. As the life of the comedian — who died of a drug overdose at age 33 in 1982 — is re-examined in the R.J. Cutler documentary “Belushi,” which premieres Nov. 22 on Showtime, here are highlights of Belushi’s story as chronicled by Variety.

The first reference to John Belushi came in the Nov. 17, 1971, edition of weekly Variety. He was singled out for praise in a generally positive review of the “Cum Granis Salis” show staged by Chicago’s legendary Second City. That famed ensemble would later contribute major players to the original “Saturday Night Live” cast,...

Clark Middleton, who appeared in such films as Birdman and Snowpiercer and had a recurring role on The Blacklist, died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of West Nile virus, his wife said. He was 63.

Middleton also was a stage veteran who in 2018 made his Broadway debut as Hugo in the Tony-nominated revival of The Iceman Cometh, led by Denzel Washington and directed by George C. Wolfe.

During the past 30 years, he performed in New York and across the U.S., creating roles for such writers as Sam Shepard, John Guare, David Ives, John Belluso, Lanford Wilson and Jason ...

Clark Middleton, who appeared in such films as Birdman and Snowpiercer and had a recurring role on The Blacklist, died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of West Nile virus, his wife said. He was 63.

Middleton also was a stage veteran who in 2018 made his Broadway debut as Hugo in the Tony-nominated revival of The Iceman Cometh, led by Denzel Washington and directed by George C. Wolfe.

During the past 30 years, he performed in New York and across the U.S., creating roles for such writers as Sam Shepard, John Guare, David Ives, John Belluso, Lanford Wilson and Jason ...

Actor, director and producer Clark Middleton, who appeared in “Kill Bill Vol. 2,” “The Blacklist” and “Snowpiercer,” died Sunday as a result of West Nile Virus, his wife Elissa confirmed. He was 63.

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of a life eminently worthy of celebration: Clark Tinsley Middleton, 63 – beloved actor, writer, director, teacher, hero, husband, beacon, friend,” Elissa wrote. “Clark transitioned on October 4th as a result of West Nile Virus, for which there is no known cure. Clark was a beautiful soul who spent a lifetime defying limits and advocating for people with disabilities.”

On television, Middleton appeared in recurring roles on “Law & Order,” “Twin Peaks” and, most recently, “The Blacklist,” where he played the irritable Dmv boss Glen Carter. On the 2017 Showtime revival of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” he played Charlie, the sleepy husband of Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn). He told Indiewire in 2017 he didn’t...

Ben Cross, best known for his portrayal of British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in “Chariots of Fire” and Sarek in the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, died on Aug. 18. He was 72.

Cross wrapped his last role as Cardinal Mathews in Lionsgate’s “The Devil’s Light” ten days ago. The veteran screen and stage star died Tuesday in Vienna following a short illness, his agent Ed Smith confirmed to Variety.

Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross in London in 1947. He began acting at a young age, participating in grammar school productions, but left school to work as a window cleaner, waiter and carpenter.

His career took a turn at age 22, when he was accepted into London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Cross graduated with the acting school’s prestigious Vanbrugh prize for performance of the year and made his screen debut on a 1976 World War II thriller “A Bridge Too Far.”

His...

Ben Cross, the English actor best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 Best Picture Oscar winner Chariots of Fire and as Sarek in the 2009 reboot Star Trek, died today in Vienna after a short illness. He was 72.

The veteran stage and screen star’s family confirmed the news to Deadline.

Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross in London in 1947 to a working-class family. He began acting at a young age, participating in grammar school plays, but left school to work as a window cleaner, waiter, joiner and carpenter before being accepted into London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts at age 22. He excelled at Rada and won the acting school’s prestigious Vanbrugh Prize for performance of the year. He would go on to claim a string of key stage roles and made his big-screen debut on 1977 World War II epic A Bridge Too Far.

Character actor Peggy Pope, who played the alcoholic office secretary in the hit comedy movie “9 to 5,” died on May 27 in Fort Collins, Colo. She was 91.

Pope’s family announced her passing and plans for a June 27 celebration of life.

Pope was born as Florence Margaret Pope in Montclair, N.J., and graduated from Smith College with a major in theater in 1951. She first appeared on Broadway with Wally Cox in “Moonbirds” in 1959 and starred with Jimmy Stewart in a 1970 revival of “Harvey” on Broadway.

Pope won an Obie in 1968 for her portrayal of a sex worker in John Guare’s “Muzeeka.” She also starred in a revival of “The Rose Tattoo” with Maureen Stapleton, “The School of Wives” with Brian Bedford and “Doctor Jazz” with Lola Falana.

Pope was best known for her portrayal of Margaret in “9 to 5,” using the catchphrase “Atta girl” to encourage her co-workers played by Dolly Parton,...

Peggy Pope, the veteran character actress who appeared on Broadway and Soap and played the tipsy office secretary Margaret in the hit 1980 film 9 to 5, has died. She was 91.

Pope died Wednesday in Fort Collins, Colorado, of causes unrelated to Covid-19, her family said.

The actress worked alongside Jimmy Stewart in a 1970 revival of Harvey on Broadway and starred with Sam Waterston in 1968 in an Obie Award-winning turn as a hooker in John Guare's Muzeeka. She also appeared with Ann Miller in a post-Broadway tour of Mame.

On the ABC sitcom Soap, Pope recurred as Mrs. David, who ...

Peggy Pope, the veteran character actress who appeared on Broadway and Soap and played the tipsy office secretary Margaret in the hit 1980 film 9 to 5, has died. She was 91.

Pope died Wednesday in Fort Collins, Colorado, of causes unrelated to Covid-19, her family said.

The actress worked alongside Jimmy Stewart in a 1970 revival of Harvey on Broadway and starred with Sam Waterston in 1968 in an Obie Award-winning turn as a hooker in John Guare's Muzeeka. She also appeared with Ann Miller in a post-Broadway tour of Mame.

On the ABC sitcom Soap, Pope recurred as Mrs. David, who ...

Bernard Gersten, a pioneering force in New York City’s nonprofit theater movement, died today at his home in Manhattan of pancreatic cancer. He was 97.

His death was announced by daughter Jenny Gersten.

“Lincoln Center Theater mourns our cherished Bernard Gersten who died this morning peacefully in his sleep at the astounding age of 97,” the theater company said in a statement. “Bernie’s intelligence, innate sense of goodness, bravery, wisdom, generosity, elegance and wit, and most important, deep knowledge and love of the theater, made him a giant in our...

Earlier this week was the 13th Annual Yale Drama Series Prize ceremony, which honored playwright Liliana Padilla for her play How To Defend Yourself, and was selected by playwright-judge Ayad Akhtar. This was held at the Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center, and culminated in a reading of the play directed by Rachel Chavkin. Also in attendance were previous Yale Drama Series Prize judges including John Guare and Marsha Norman previous Yds Prize recipients including Barbara Seyda and Neil Wechsler and Francine Horn, President of the David Charles Horn Foundation.

What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael screens at Webster University ‘s Moor Auditorium (470 E Lockwood Ave) screens Friday February 21st, Saturday February 22nd, and Sunday February 23rd. The film begins each evening at at 7:00pm. A Facebook event can be found Here

Regarded by Roger Ebert as having “a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any other single person over the last three decades,” film critic Pauline Kael reigned, from the late 60s to the early 90s, as one of the most well-known, clever, and controversial figures in the industry. Having been one of the few female critics in a sea of men, unapologetic about her (often scathing) opinions, and underpaid for the influential work she did, Kael fought endlessly to preserve her title.

Pauline Kael, the New Yorker film critic for 25 years until the early 1990s, was a lightning rod of American culture.

Georgia Engel, who rose to fame playing Georgette Franklin on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," has died.   The actress died Friday in Princeton, NJ, according to the New York Times, and a cause of death has not been determined. Georgia was a Christian Scientist and reportedly did not see a doctor. Georgia joined 'Mary Tyler Moore' in 1972 during the show's third season, and she was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards for supporting actress in a comedy.

Katherine Helmond, who played the ditzy Tate matriarch on the groundbreaking 1970s comedy Soap and later starred on Who’s the Boss?, among many other roles, died February 23 of Alzheimer’s complications at her home in Los Angeles. She was 89. Apa announced the news.

Helmond is best known for her roles as the flighty Jessica Tate on ABC’s 1977-81 ensemble primetime soap opera sitcom Soap and as the sexy and wise Mona Robinson — who showed that romance and excitement are not over for older women — opposite Tony Danza, Judith Light and Alyssa Milano on ABC’s 1984-92 series Who’s the Boss?

She received four Best Actress Emmy Award nominations for Soap and back-to-back noms for Who’s the Boss? in 1988-89. Helmond also scored a Best Actress Golden Globe Award for Soap in 1981, another for Supporting Actress in Who’s the Boss in 1989 and a second a Globes...

Galt MacDermot, who composed the hit Broadway musicals Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona, died Monday, a day before his 90th birthday. His death was confirmed to Playbill by his granddaughter, though a cause of death was not revealed.

After cutting records in the early part of the Sixties, including the Grammy-winning “African Waltz” for saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, the Montreal-born composer moved to New York. Upon meeting lyricists Gerome Ragni and James Rado, he began setting their writings to music and the trio eventually created Hair, which opened off-Broadway in...

Happy 53rd birthday, Ben Stiller, on November 30, 2018! The successful comic actor is the son of comedy royalty — the legendary comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who regularly took young Ben to their sets, and he soaked up an earful about comic timing. Realizing early on that stand-up was not for him, he forged his own path. In 1986, he appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning revival of John Guare‘s “The House of Blue Leaves.” Stiller then segued over to “Saturday Night Live” where he was hired as a writer and eventually a performer. He left after four episodes.

See‘Escape at Dannemora’: Patricia Arquette & Benicio Del Toro team with director Ben Stiller for Showtime limited series

In its early days of the network, Fox hired Stiller to create a comedy sketch show that became “The Ben Stiller Show” which, despite a short run, managed to win...

Happy 53rd birthday, Ben Stiller, on November 30, 2018! The successful comic actor is the son of comedy royalty — the legendary comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who regularly took young Ben to their sets, and he soaked up an earful about comic timing. Realizing early on that stand-up was not for him, he forged his own path. In 1986, he appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning revival of John Guare‘s “The House of Blue Leaves.” Stiller then segued over to “Saturday Night Live” where he was hired as a writer and eventually a performer. He left after four episodes.

In its early days of the network, Fox hired Stiller to create a comedy sketch show that became “The Ben Stiller Show” which, despite a short run, managed to win his team an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Writing. Then it was on to the movies, with Stiller creating such...

Happy birthday to Leonardo DiCaprio, who is turning 44 on November 11, 2018. DiCaprio, whom we first got to know as a child star on the ABC sitcom “Growing Pains,” grew up to become one of the world’s most popular movie stars and accomplished actors, working with such esteemed directors as Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg and particularly, Martin Scorsese, with whom he was worked five times (with two more collaborations in the pipeline).

Beginning with 1993’s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” for which he received his first Academy Award nomination at age 19, he has earned six Oscar nominations, including a win for 2015’s “The Revenant.” DiCaprio has also won three Golden Globe Awards from 11 nominations, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award (for “The Revenant”) out of nine nominations.

While we await DiCaprio’s return to the screen in 2019 (after a three-year hiatus) with Quentin Tarantino‘s much-anticipated “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,...

John Larroquette will star in Nantucket Sleigh Ride, a new play by John Guare directed by Jerry Zaks and heading to Lincoln Center Theater’s Off Broadway Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in February.

The production will reunite Guare and Zaks with the theater company that housed the premieres of Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves. With previews beginning February 21, 2019, and opening Monday, March 18, Nantucket Sleigh Ride will feature a cast of 10.

In addition to Larroquette, the cast will include Clea Alsip, Tina Benko, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jordan Gelber, Grace Rex, Stacey Sargeant, Douglas Sills and Will Swenson. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The play’s synopsis: “In his attempts to recover a memory of an event that happened on that ‘far away island’ 35 years before, Nantucket Sleigh Ride plunges a New York playwright-turned-venture capitalist (Larroquette) into a whirlpool of a giant lobster, Roman Polanski,...

A new play by Beth Henley and residencies for playwrights J.T. Rogers and Sarah DeLappe are all on the docket at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2018 National Playwrights Conference.

The longrunning, annual developmental program, which has helped launch the careers of notable playwrights including August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein and John Guare, has selected a total of eight new scripts to be showcased this summer in public readings that cap off a week of development for each play. “Lightning,” the latest by “Crimes of the Heart” playwright Henley, is on a list that also includes Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play,” already set for a fall run at Off Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop, and Cori Thomas’ “Lockdown,” scheduled to bow at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in spring 2019.

The conference’s two writers-in-residence, meanwhile, are tapped to spend time at the O’Neill campus in Waterford, Conn., developing their own new works.

Laurie Metcalf and Allison Janney are both one notch away from completing the Triple Crown of acting — that is, winning an Oscar, Emmy and Tony — but who might get there first? As a refresher, Metcalf has prevailed at both the Emmys and Tonys, while Janney is an Emmy favorite who just won her first Oscar. Give us your thoughts on this hot topic down in the comments section.

See 2018 Oscars: Complete list of winners (and losers)

At last year’s Tony Awards, it looked like Metcalf and Janney would be going head-to-head for Best Lead Actress in a Play. Janney was starring in a revival of John Guare’s 1990 Tony-winning play, “Six Degrees of Separation” where she was taking on a role that was originated on stage by her “The West Wing” co-star, Stockard Channing. Channing received a Tony nomination for her performance in the original production as well as...

“Frasier” star John Mahoney, who died Sunday at 77, didn’t start acting until he was 37 in 1977. Nine years later, he was a Tony-winning actor.

Mahoney, who got his start at Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre, won Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1986 for his Broadway debut as Artie, a zookeeper with songwriting ambitions, in John Guare’s “The House of Blue Leaves.”

“I’m just so proud to be a part of this whole proceedings tonight that this wasn’t really necessary, but you’ll never get it back,” a surprised and beaming Mahoney quipped in this speech, which you can watch above.

See In memoriam 2018: Remember the stars we’ve lost this year

The British-born character actor went on to star in “Moonstruck” (1987), “Say Anything…” (1989) and “Barton Fink” (1991) before a 1992 guest appearance on “Cheers” helped him score his most famous role: Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles’ (David Hyde Pierce...

While filming his 1989 debut, Say Anything, director Cameron Crowe found himself working with esteemed character actor John Mahoney. Mahoney, who died Monday at age 77, was a formidable stage performer before portraying Jim Court, the divorced father of Diane (Iona Skye) who becomes embroiled in an IRS investigation while simultaneously trying to deter his daughter's budding romance with Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack).

While the role ostensibly made Mahoney the film's antagonist, Crowe tells Rolling Stone that the actor arrived on set "with a bounce in his step and a twinkle in...

Tony Sokol Feb 6, 2018

Best known as Martin Crane on Frasier, John Mahoney was part of the Steppenwolf theatre troupe for 39 years.

Veteran actor John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane on Frasier for 11 seasons and was a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble for 39 years, died Sunday, February 4th at age 77, it was reported by Variety.

“It is with our deepest sorrow that we share the news that ensemble member of 39 years John Mahoney passed away due to complications from cancer while in hospice care on Sunday,” Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre announced via Twitter.

Steppenwolf cancelled its opening night Monday for the play You Got Older to honour Mahoney, who most recently starred in their production of The Rembrandt. The theatre invited ticketholders to gather at the venue for a moment of silence.

Mahoney was born in Manchester in 1940. He was a World War II evacuee to Blackpool, where he also attended St.

John Mahoney has died.

The actor passed away on Sunday in Chicago, Illinois, his manager confirmed to People. He was 77.

Born in Blackpool, England, in 1940, Mahoney became best known for his role as Martin Crane in NBC’s Frasier, though he didn’t kick-start his acting career until later on in life. As a child, Mahoney — who was one of eight children from a Irish-Catholic family — witnessed the struggles of war firsthand as it quickly tore apart his parents’ marriage.

The British native attended St. Joseph’s College in Blackpool but was determined to immigrate to the United States.

Playwright John Guare, author of 'The House of Blue Leaves,' 'Six Degrees of Separation,' 'The Landscape of the Body' and more, will be honored at The Workshop Theater's fourth unGala on October 23, 2017.

John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, directed by Trip Cullman and starring seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney, Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey and Tony Award nominee Corey Hawkins, will close on Sunday, June 18, 2017. It will have played 21 previews and 63 regular performances. The production began previews Wednesday, April 5 and opened Tuesday, April 25 at the Barrymore Theatre 243 West 47th Street.

By Spencer Coile 

John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation is a finely tuned satire of the rich and elite, inviting its audience into the lives of Flan and Ouisa Kittredge, an art dealer and his wife. Through a mixture of broad comedy, close examination of "how the other half lives," and an honest depiction of race relations in the 20th century, his work was not only a Best Play nominee at the 1990 Tony Awards, but was a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is no surprise that his creation would soon find its home on the screen as well, being adapted into a 1993 film of the same name, directed by Fred Schepisi and written for the screen by Guare. 

Indeed, much can be said about both its stage and screen representation (Nathaniel even wrote about the play's current revival here), from its kooky premise to the performances.

Only rarely do Broadway plays and musicals, analogs of entertainment in a digital world, break into the larger culture as they once did. In 1990, however, John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation broke through. Capturing a particularly delicious moment of anxiety among the privileged denizens of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the 90-minute play skewered the fluid, ethics-challenged world view of the insecurely wealthy. Paradoxically, it also humanized a roster of characters…...