Wasserman, Dale

Dale Wasserman, playwright; Oldrich Danek, playwright.

Dale Wasserman playwright, screenwriter and television writer worked in show business since the age of nineteen. His early forays into theater include work as a lighting designer, director and producer. Around 1955 he began his writing career and it is this for which he is best noted.

Dale Wasserman playwright, screenwriter and television writer has worked in show business since the age of nineteen.

His early forays into theater include work as a lighting designer, director and producer. Around 1955 he began his writing career and it is this for which he is best noted. His early work for television included such series as the Dupont Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theater and Kraft Television Theatre. His work for the Dupont Theatre included the award winning television plays The Lincoln Murder Case and I, Don Quixote, on which the musical Man of La Mancha is based. Among his credits include the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as the motion pictures The Vikings and Cleopatra. Some of his later work includes Shakespeare and the Indians and Western Star, both of which were produced outside of New York City.

Dale Wasserman playwright, screenwriter and television writer has worked in show business since the age of nineteen.

His early forays into theater include work as a lighting designer, director and producer. Around 1955 he began his writing career and it is this for which he is best noted . His early work for television included such series as the Dupont Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theater and Kraft Television Theatre. His work for the Dupont Theatre included the award winning television plays of The Lincoln Murder Case and I, Don Quixote, on which the musical Man of La Mancha is based.

Dale Wasserman playwright, screenwriter and television writer has worked in show business since the age of nineteen.

His early forays into theater include work as a lighting designer, director and producer. Around 1955 he began his writing career and it is this for which he is best noted. His early work for television included such series as the Dupont Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theater and Kraft Television Theatre. His work for the Dupont Theatre included the award winning television plays The Lincoln Murder Case and I, Don Quixote, on which the musical Man of La Mancha is based. Among his credits include the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as the motion pictures The Vikings and Cleopatra.

Some of his later work includes Shakespeare and the Indians and Western Star, both of which were produced outside of New York City.

Dale Wasserman (1914-2008) was an American playwright, television-writer and screenwriter, working from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his play, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1963) and his book for the musical Man of La Mancha (1966).

Wasserman was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. After the early death of his parents he was raised in an orphanage. In his youth, he traveled around the United States on freight trains, living on the hobo circuit. He also started working in show business from the age of nineteen. His early forays into theater include work as a lighting designer, director and producer. In the 1940s he worked for the Katherine Dunham Dance Company as a director and stage manager in Haiti and in New York.

Around 1955 he began his writing career, writing scripts for such television series as Ponds Theater, Armstrong Circle Theater, The Alcoa Hour and Kraft Television Theatre. His work for the Dupont Show of the Month included the award winning television plays The Lincoln Murder Case and I, Don Quixote, on which he based his book for the award-winning, acclaimed and wildly popular musical Man of La Mancha, which had a score by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion.

Besides Man of La Mancha, Wasserman's most notable stage project was his adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest into a hit play. Other stage projects of Wasserman's which were not produced in New York include, An Enchanted Land, Western Star, A Walk in the Sky, J.F.K., Shakespeare and the Indians and a revamp of John La Touche's original book for Beggar's Holiday. Many of these projects were mounted in regional or London productions.

Wasserman's motion pictures include The Vikings, Cleopatra, Quick Before it Melts and A Walk with Love and Death.

In 2003 Wasserman published a memoir on his experiences as the writer of Man of La Mancha, called The Impossible Musical.

Wasserman's first marriage to actress Ramsay Ames ended in divorce in 1980. He was married to Martha Nelly Garza from 1984 until his death in 2008.