Douglas McGrath, a writer, director, and actor, passed away at the age of 64.
The autobiographical off-Broadway play Everything’s Fine, which the Tony and Oscar candidate also wrote, had just featured him as its star. Producers of the program, Daryl Roth, Tom Werner, and John Lithgow, who was also in charge of directing, revealed his passing on November 3rd.
The statement reads, “The company of Everything’s Fine was honored to have heard his solo autobiographical presentation.” Everyone who collaborated with him over the course of the final three months of production was moved by his grace, charisma, and dry sense of humor. We extend our sincere sympathies to his family.
On November 2, there was one final performance. The one-man performance about a troubling episode in McGrath’s adolescence earned favorable reviews. Elisabeth Vincentelli says, lauded the “can’t-look-away nature of a slow-motion accident,” saying that “you might be outraged yet laughing, anxious to hear what occurred next while simultaneously dreading it.” In the wake of his passing, Vincentelli tweeted that it was “a sudden, awful shock.”
More About Douglas McGrath
In 1980, McGrath started writing for Saturday Night Live. Later, in 1995, he was nominated for an Oscar for collaborating with Woody Allen to write the screenplay for Bullets Over Broadway. He also played roles in a number of Allen’s movies, such as Celebrity, Small Time Crooks, and Café Society.
He also served as writer and director for the Gwyneth Paltrow-starring version of Emma from 1996, the Charlie Hunnam-starring adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby from 2002, and the Toby Jones-starring Truman Capote drama Infamous from 2006.
McGrath was nominated for a Tony for writing the book for the Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.McGrath commended King for never asking him “to soften or ameliorate the events of her life” in an article for the Guardian in 2018. Checkers and The Age of Innocence were two of his other plays.
McGrath has appeared in several episodes of HBO’s Girls as Principal Toby Cook, as well as Quiz Show, Todd Solondz’s Happiness, Michael Clayton from 2007, and other films. “We had the finest time working with him on Girls,” tweeted Jenni Konner, who was also the co-showrunner and one of the writers and directors. What a huge skill. What a great guy! RIP.”
Henry McGrath, his son, and his wife, Jane Read Martin, are his only heirs.
