Photo Flash: Wendy Wasserstein--A Look Back

By: Walter McBride Jan. 30, 2006

At the age of 55, Wendy Wasserstein has lost her battle with cancer. The beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright passed away at the Memorial Sloan Kettering due to complications from lymphoma, according to Lincoln Center artistic director Andre Bishop.

It was first disclosed in December of 2005 that Wasserstein was "gravely ill;" soon after, the nature of the illness was revealed. An infection had prevented doctors from administering chemotherapy.

Wasserstein won much acclaim over the course of almost three decades for writing plays that with wit, warmth and insight, confronted a range of feminist issues--the conflict of career versus marriage and motherhood, the struggle for women to achieve equality at work, and the joys and tribulations of love and sex, among them. Her plays included Uncommon Women and Others, The Sisters Rosensweig, Isn't It Romantic, An American Daughter and The Heidi Chronicles, which is commonly regarded as her masterpiece and won both a Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Third, a critical and commercial hit at Lincoln Center, was the last new Wasserstein work to be presented. With the late composer Cy Coleman and lyricist David Zippel, Wasserstein also wrote the book for Pamela's First Musical (based on her own children's book). The author of several volumes of essays (including Bachelor Girls, Shiksa Goddess, and Sloth), Wasserstein also penned a debut novel called Elements of Style that will be published in May.

BroadwayWorld presents a gallery of an an irreplaceable talent.

Photos by Retna Ltd.

Photo Flash: Wendy Wasserstein--A Look Back Image

Wendy Wasserstein, photographed in New York City in 1998

William Ivey Long and Wendy Wasserstein Attending The Theatre Museum's Awards for Excellence at the Historic Players Club of Gramercy Park

Wendy Wasserstein presents Betty Comden with The Lifetime Achievement Award at The Theatre Museum's Awards for Excellence at the Historic Players Club of Gramercy Park in September of 2004

Wendy Wasserstein presents Betty Comden with The Lifetime Achievement Award

Wendy Wasserstein at the opening night of Follies at the Belasco Theatre, New York City. April 5, 2001

Wendy Wasserstein attending the opening night of Into The Woods at the Broadhurst Theatre. New York City, April 30, 2002

Wendy Wasserstein Attends the Opening Night of Follies, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, April 5th, 2001

Wendy Wasserstein Attends the Opening Night of Follies with close friend Christopher Durang, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, April 5th, 2001

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Photo Flash: Wendy Wasserstein--A Look Back

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