Richard Greenberg dead at 67: The Tony-winning Take Me Out playwright is remembered for legacy on Broadway
Over the weekend, the New York native's death was announced on social media by his friend and theater director Robert Falls.
'Heartbroken by the news of playwright Richard Greenberg's death. For the past several years we've been deep in collaboration on his gorgeous adaptation of Holiday, Philip Barry's great American play — premiering at the Goodman this February. A profound loss mid-process,' Falls wrote on Bluesky.
He continued: 'For over 30 years, it's been one of life's great pleasures to know Rich and his writing. Dazzling, humane, wildly funny. … His kindness was real. His loss is enormous.'
American actor, Denis O'Hare, who received a Tony Award for his role as Mason Marzac in Take Me Out, shared a heartfelt tribute to Greenberg on Instagram.
'Hard to believe the genius that was Richard Greenberg is no more. I owe him more than I could possibly say,' he wrote. 'He gave me the greatest gift ever--a beautiful character to inhabit in a beautiful play.'
O'Hare went on to praise his former colleague for giving him his two best friends, Lisa Peterson and Linda Emond, who he recalled meeting on Greenberg's 'one act play, The Author's Voice, at Remains Theatre in 1987 in a festival of one acts called "Sneaky Feelings."'
'I have a sneaky feeling of grief mixed with gratitude for this man. RIP Rich,' he concluded.
At this time, a cause of death has not been publicly revealed.
His fans flooded X with tributes as they remembered the late playwright for pushing boundaries and inspiring 'thought for generations to come.'
'Farewell to the playwright Richard Greenberg, of Take Me Out, The Assembled Parties and Three Days of Rain. A lyrical chronicler of the mysteries that are human beings, he understood that the past, far from being another country, is forever a pulsing part of our present,' one tweeted.
Another wrote: 'RIP Richard Greenberg, a great American playwright. His work included the award-winning TAKE ME OUT and the superb THREE DAYS OF RAIN. He wrote about everyone from Major League baseball players to upper crust New Yorkers, always with wit and compassion. A major loss.'
In addition to Take Me Out, Greenberg is remembered for writing plays as The Dazzle, The American Plan, Life Under Water and The Author's Voice.
Take Me Out, which had an all-male cast, followed a baseball star's coming out journey during a season filled of racial tension and violence.
He also penned the Broadway adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's and the book for the musical Far From Heaven.
Over his career, he had more than 25 plays premiere on, Off-Broadway, and off-off 'Broadway in New York City as well as eight at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California.
Greenberg, who was born in 1958, graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University.
He studied creative writing under American novelist Joyce Carol Oates and was roommates with future Harvard economics professor Greg Mankiw.
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