‘Man of La Mancha’ writer, dies at 94

Monday, December 29, 2008 at 4:12 am

Dale Wasserman, author of the book for the Tony-winning musical “Man of La Mancha” as well as the stage adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” has died. He was 94 and is survived by his wife.

Wasserman died December 21 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, his wife, Martha, said yesterday (December 27). “Man of La Mancha,” the tale of the intrepid, ever idealistic Don Quixote, was one of Broadway’s biggest hits in the 1960s.

Wasserman’s adaptation of “Cuckoo’s Nest,” Kesey’s novel about a renegade mental hospital inmate, opened on Broadway in 1963.

Wasserman began writing television dramas in the 1950s, then went on to pen screenplays, including 1958′s “The Vikings” starring Douglas and Tony Curtis, and “Mister Buddwing” starring James Garner in 1966.

Born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, as one of 14 children of Russian immigrants, he was orphaned at age 10 and sent to live with uncles and aunts.

Wasserman wrote on his Web site that he left home and spent years “jumping freight trains, graduating as a Hobo cum laude,” eventually ending up with a career in theater.

Author of more than 75 scripts, Wasserman continued to work until his death, making revisions to a play based on his early hobo life called “Burning in the Night,” his wife said.

His latest finished play, “Premiere!” is set to open in a suburban Phoenix theater next month.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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‘Man of La Mancha’ writer, dies at 94

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