2008 Woodie Awards
Playwright Wendy Wasserstein dies
Michael Kuchwara, AP
Issue date: 2/2/06 Section: Features
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NEW YORK (AP) - Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who celebrated women confronting feminism, careers, love and motherhood in such works as "The Heidi Chronicles" and "The Sisters Rosensweig," died Monday. She was 55.
Wasserstein, who had been battling cancer in recent months, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Andre Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater and Wasserstein's close friend and mentor, said the cause of death was lymphoma.
"She was an extraordinary human being whose work and whose life were extremely intertwined," Bishop said. "She was not unlike the heroines of most of her plays _ a strong-minded, independent, serious good person."
Wasserstein's writing was known for its sharp, often wry observations about what women had to do to succeed in a world dominated by men.
Her most recent work, "Third," which ended a New York run Dec. 18, 2005, dealt with a female college professor, played by Dianne Wiest, whose liberal, feminist convictions are put to the test by a student she sees as the epitome of the white male establishment.
Many of her plays were initially seen at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons and later at Lincoln Center Theater, both run by Bishop.
The playwright continued her off-Broadway success with "Isn't It Romantic" _ about a free spirit who rejects her fiance and tries to find a life as a single woman.
She attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and then went to Yale University, where she became friends with such budding playwrights as Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato and began her theater career.
"I find myself being more interested in my old friends and in deeper alliances," Wasserstein said in an interview with Time last year. "My 50s are also about being a mother and the joy of my daughter Lucy Jane and about loss. Real loss. My sister Sandra died of breast cancer at 60, so I know about things I didn't know about before. My father died two years ago, and then my friend (director) Gerald Gutierrez died. He was 53. I think if you experience loss, you also on some level try to treasure joy. It can be as simple as going to the ballet or being with your child."
Wasserstein is survived by her daughter Lucy Jane; her mother, Lola; a sister, Georgette Levis; and her brother, Bruce Wasserstein, chairman and chief executive of Lazard LLC. Funeral services will be private.
Wasserstein, who had been battling cancer in recent months, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Andre Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater and Wasserstein's close friend and mentor, said the cause of death was lymphoma.
"She was an extraordinary human being whose work and whose life were extremely intertwined," Bishop said. "She was not unlike the heroines of most of her plays _ a strong-minded, independent, serious good person."
Wasserstein's writing was known for its sharp, often wry observations about what women had to do to succeed in a world dominated by men.
Her most recent work, "Third," which ended a New York run Dec. 18, 2005, dealt with a female college professor, played by Dianne Wiest, whose liberal, feminist convictions are put to the test by a student she sees as the epitome of the white male establishment.
Many of her plays were initially seen at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons and later at Lincoln Center Theater, both run by Bishop.
The playwright continued her off-Broadway success with "Isn't It Romantic" _ about a free spirit who rejects her fiance and tries to find a life as a single woman.
She attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and then went to Yale University, where she became friends with such budding playwrights as Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato and began her theater career.
"I find myself being more interested in my old friends and in deeper alliances," Wasserstein said in an interview with Time last year. "My 50s are also about being a mother and the joy of my daughter Lucy Jane and about loss. Real loss. My sister Sandra died of breast cancer at 60, so I know about things I didn't know about before. My father died two years ago, and then my friend (director) Gerald Gutierrez died. He was 53. I think if you experience loss, you also on some level try to treasure joy. It can be as simple as going to the ballet or being with your child."
Wasserstein is survived by her daughter Lucy Jane; her mother, Lola; a sister, Georgette Levis; and her brother, Bruce Wasserstein, chairman and chief executive of Lazard LLC. Funeral services will be private.