Plays
About
Brooklyn-born playwright Murray Schisgal had his first theatrical success in London with THE TYPIST, THE POSTMAN, and A SIMPLE KIND OF LOVE STORY (1960). Having gained recognition for the Off-Broadway double bill of THE TYPIST and THE TIGER (1963), Schisgal’s greatest Broadway success was also his Broadway debut, LUV, an offbeat comedy about a husband who succeeds in matching his wife with his best friend so he can marry another. Schisgal wrote over fifty plays for the stage and also wrote for television and film. Dustin Hoffman played the born loser in JIMMY SHINE, Schisgal’s 1968–69 Broadway hit with songs written for the play by John Sebastian. The artistic relationship between Hoffman and Schisgal continued successfully into the 1980s. Another of his Broadway hits, ALL OVER TOWN, was directed by Hoffman in 1974–75. In 1983 Schisgal was nominated for an Oscar for “Tootsie” in the Best Screenplay category.