Wendy Wasserstein Biography (1950-)

Born October 18, 1950, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of Morris W. (a textile manufacturer) and Lola (a dancer; maiden name, Schleifer) Wasserstein; children:Lucy Jane. Addresses: Agent: Creative Artist Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825.; Contact: c/o Royce Carlton Inc., 866 United Nations Plaza, #4030, New York, NY 10017.

Nationality: American
Gender: Female
Occupation: Playwright, actress, producer, teacher
Birth Details: October 18, 1950; Brooklyn, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Television Appearances
Specials
The 43rd Annual Tony Awards, 1989
Gail Sheehy's New Passages, 1996
Host and presenter, The Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary Celebration, 1996
Herself, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, CBS, 2000
Herself, The Beatles Revolution, ABC, 2000
Herself, Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There,2002
Episodic
Guest, Women Aloud, 1992
The Movie That Changed My Life, 1995
Voice of guest caller Linda, "Head Game," Frasier, NBC, 1996
Herself, Where's Elvis This Week?, 1996
Appeared in episodes of Charlie Rose, PBS.
Television Work
Movies
Executive producer, An American Daughter (also known as Trial by Media), PBS, 2000
Film Appearances
Mrs. Wasserman, Life with Mikey (also known as Give Me a Break), Buena Vista, 1993
Stage Appearances
The Hotel Play, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City,1981
Stage Work
Dramaturg, A New Approach to Human Sacrifice, Young Playwrights Festival, Circle Repertory Theatre, New York City, 1983
WRITINGS

Stage Plays
Any Woman Can't, produced at Playwrights Horizons, Westside YWCA/Clark Center, New York City, 1973
Happy Birthday, Montpelier Pizz-zazz, produced in New Haven, CT, 1974, then Playwrights Horizons, 1976
(With Christopher Durang) When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth, produced at Yale Cabaret Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1975
Uncommon Women and Others, produced in New Haven, CT, 1975, then Phoenix Theatre, New York City, 1977, later Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1985, then Los Angeles Stage Company, Los Angeles, published by Dramatists Play Service, 1978, then Avon, 1979
(Contributor of additional material with Mimi Kennedy, Ted Mann, and HerbSargent) Hard Sell, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, 1980
Isn't It Romantic?, produced at Phoenix Theatre, Marymount Manhattan Theatre, New York City, 1981, then Playwrights Horizons, 1983, published by Doubleday, 1984, then Dramatists Play Service, 1985
Tender Offer (one-act), produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York City, 1983
The Man in a Case (one-act; adapted from the short story by AntonChekhov), produced in Urbana, IL, 1985, then Acting Company, Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York City, 1986, published by Dramatists Play Service, 1990
Miami (musical; music and lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman), produced at Playwrights Horizons, 1986
"Smart Women, Brilliant Choices" in Urban Blight (musical revue; based on an idea by John Tillinger, music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.), produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, City Center Theatre, New YorkCity, 1988
The Heidi Chronicles, produced at Playwrights Horizons, 1988, thenPlymouth Theatre, New York City, 1989, published as The Heidi Chroniclesand Other Plays, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990
The Sisters Rosensweig, produced at Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City, 1992-1993, then Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1993, published by Harcourt(New York City), 1993
An American Daughter, produced at Lincoln Center Theatre, 1997, published by Harcourt Brace, 1998
Old Money, produced at Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, 2000-2001
Stage Opera Librettos
"The Festival of Regrets," Central Park (music by Deborah Drattell), New York City Opera, 1999
Television Episodes
The Comedy Zone, CBS, 1984
"Driving School," The Way We Are, CBC, broadcast as an episode ofTrying Times, PBS, 1987
Television Specials
"Uncommon Women and Others" (adapted from Wasserstein's play of the samename), Great Performances, PBS, 1978
"The Sorrows of Gin" (based on the short story by John Cheever), GreatPerformances, PBS, 1979
Drive, She Said, PBS, 1987
(With Terence McNally) Playlets number two and number three, Liza Minnelli in Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (also known as Sam Found Out: A Triple Play), ABC, 1988
"Kiss, Kiss Dahlings," Great Performance's 20th Anniversary Special, 1992
Television Movies
The Heidi Chronicles (adapted from Wasserstein's play of the samename), TNT, 1995
An American Daughter (adapted from Wasserstein's play of the samename; also known as Trial by Media), Lifetime, 2000
Screenplays
The Object of My Affection (based on the novel by Stephen McCauley), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998
Wrote (with Christopher Durang) the unproduced screenplay, House of Husbands.
Other
Bachelor's Girls (comic essays), Knopf (New York City), 1990
Pamela's First Musical (children's book), illustrations by AndrewJackness, Hyperion (New York City), 1996
Shiksa Goddess; Or, How I Spent My Forties (essays), Alfred A. Knopf, 2001
Contributor to periodicals, including New Yorker, Esquire, New Woman, and Slate.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Ciociola, Gail, Wendy Wasserstein: Dramatizing Women, Their Choices and Their Boundaries, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1998
Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 53, Gale, 1997
Contemporary Dramatists, 6th ed., St. James Press, 1999
Feminist Writers, 1st ed., St. James Press, 1996
Newsmakers 1991, Issue Cumulation, Gale Research, 1991
Wendy Wasserstein: A Casebook, edited by Claudia Barnett, Garland(New York City), 1998

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