Obituaries

Playwright and Cartoonist Jules Feiffer Dies at 95

Feiffer was also the screenwriter of Carnal Knowledge and Popeye.

Zachary Stewart

Zachary Stewart

| New York City |

January 21, 2025

Jules Feiffer was a playwright, screenwriter, and cartoonist.
(© Joseph Marzullo / Retna Ltd.)

Writer and cartoonist Jules Feiffer has died at the age of 95 at his home in Upstate New York. The cause was congestive heart failure according to his third wife, JZ Holden, who confirmed the news to the Washington Post.

Feiffer was best known for the comic strip he drew for The Village Voice from 1956 to 1997 that brought an acerbic, slightly neurotic voice to the long tradition of American political cartoons. It earned him a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1986.

Feiffer was also a playwright, making his Broadway debut with the short-lived dark comedy Little Murders in 1967. While it flopped on Broadway, it went on to play 400 performances at Circle in the Square downtown, winning Feiffer a 1969 Obie Award. Feiffer later adapted his play into a 1971 film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd.

Feiffer’s other plays include Knock Knock, Grown Ups, and A Bad Friend. Originally written for the stage, his play Carnal Knowledge became a 1971 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Candice Bergen. The property would later return to the stage in the ’80s at Houston’s Stages Repertory Theater and the Martin R. Kaufman Theatre off-Broadway in 1990.

His short story “Passionella” was the basis for the third act of the musical The Apple Tree, which opened on Broadway in 1966 and was revived in 2006.  He also contributed material to the bawdy Broadway revue Oh! Calcutta!

While Feiffer often adapted his own work to the screen, movie audiences are likely to remember his screenplay for the 1980 Robert Altman film Popeye, starring Robin Williams.

Feiffer is survived by three children, including the actor and playwright Halley Feiffer.

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