Theater News

Playwright and Author Gore Vidal Has Died; Broadway to Dim Lights in His Memory

Gore Vidal, currently represented on Broadway by the revival of his play The Best Man, passed away on Tuesday, July 31 in Los Angeles. According to published reports, the cause of death was complications from pneumonia. He was 86.

The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in his memory on Friday, August 3, at exactly 8pm for one minute.

Vidal received a 1960 Tony nomination for The Best Man. His other Broadway-produced plays include A Visit to a Small Planet, Weekend, and An Evening With Richard Nixon. He also adapted Friedrich Duerrenmatt’s Romulus for the Broadway stage.

His screenplays include the adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer and of Edna Ferber’s Stage Door. He was Emmy-nominated for the miniseries Dress Gray.

Among his numerous novels were The City and the Pillar, Julian, Myra Breckinridge, Creation, and Washington, D.C.. He published two memoirs: Palimpsest and Point to Point Navigation. He was also a noted essayist and twice ran for Congress.

Vidal is survived by his half-sister Nina Straight and half-brother Tommy Auchincloss.