Douglas McGrath
Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 12, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Award. McGrath started his career as a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1981.
Also recorded as Douglas Geoffrey McGrath
Douglas McGrath
- Name
- Douglas McGrath
- Birth Name
- Douglas Geoffrey McGrath
- Born
- 12 February 1958
- Birthplace
- Midland, Texas, U.S.
- Died
- 3 November 2022
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- Playwright, director, actor
- Education
- * Princeton University
- Spouse
- Jane Read Martin
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- film · opinion journalism
- Known for
- Bullets Over Broadway
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Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 12, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Award. McGrath started his career as a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1981.
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wikidata · Q3038028 · wikipedia · Douglas McGrath
In this article
Biography
Biography
He co-wrote with Woody Allen the film Bullets Over Broadway (1994), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Award nominations.[1] He then directed such films as Emma (1996), Company Man (2000), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), and Infamous (2006). He also appeared in such films as Quiz Show (1994), The Daytrippers (1996), Happiness (1998), The Insider (1999), and Michael Clayton (2007). His television appearances included a recurring role as Principal Toby Cook in Lena Dunham's series Girls from 2015 to 2016. He also appeared in the comedy series Crisis in Six Scenes (2016), and the limited series Godless (2017). McGrath received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for the Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical[7] in 2014. He directed the documentaries His Way (2011) and Becoming Mike Nichols (2016). He wrote political commentary, such as "The Flapjack File", a column for The New Republic, as well as articles for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair.[2]
Douglas McGrath studied at Princeton University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is film and opinion journalism. Places of work recorded in the authority are United States. Works named in the authority record are Bullets Over Broadway.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Douglas McGrath • Birth Name — Douglas Geoffrey McGrath • Born — 12 February 1958 • Birthplace — Midland, Texas, U.S. • Died — 3 November 2022 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Playwright, director, actor • Years Active — 1980–2022 • Notable Works — * Bullets Over Broadway • Beautiful: The Carole King Musical • Education — * Princeton University • Children — 1 • Spouse — Jane Read Martin
Early life and education
Early life and education
Doug McGrath was the son of Beatrice and R. Searle McGrath, an independent oil producer from Midland, Texas. He was an alumnus of Trinity School of Midland, The Choate School, and Princeton University. At Princeton, he was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club and joined its board of directors after graduation.
Career
Career
McGrath started his career as a writer on the sixth season of Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1981. Fellow writers that season included Brian Doyle-Murray, Mason Williams, and Jean Doumanian. The season was universally panned. McGrath wrote an episode of L.A. Law, titled "One Rat, One Ranger". In 1993, he wrote the screenplay for the 1993 remake of Born Yesterday. The film received mixed reviews with many comparing it to the 1950 film of the same name. The following year, he started the first of his many collaborations with Woody Allen, co-writing his musical comedy film Bullets Over Broadway. Janet Maslin of The New York Times described the film as "a bright, energetic, sometimes side-splitting comedy with vital matters on its mind, precisely the kind of sharp-edged farce [Allen] has always done best."[3] McGrath along with Allen received the nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. They also received BAFTA Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Writers Guild of America Award nominations. He continued his relationship with Allen acting in several of his films including Celebrity (1998), Small Time Crooks (2000), Hollywood Ending (2002), Café Society (2016), and Rifkin's Festival (2020). He had additional success as both a writer and director of the film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma (1996). The film gained critical acclaim, and McGrath received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination. During this time, he had supporting roles in Robert Redford's Quiz Show (1994), Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers (1996), Todd Solondz's Happiness (1998), and Michael Mann's The Insider (1999).[4] McGrath continued his career as a director with the comedy Company Man (2000). He returned to directing with the film adaptation of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (2002). Roger Ebert praised McGrath for his adaptation, writing "The movie is jolly and exciting and brimming with life, and wonderfully well-acted."[5] He then directed the film Infamous focusing on the life of Truman Capote. The film instantly drew comparisons to the Bennett Miller film Capote (2005), which was released the previous year. In his review in The New York Times, A.O. Scott called the film "well worth your attention. It is quick-witted, stylish and well acted… warmer and more tender, if also a bit thinner and showier, than Capote… it is in the end more touching than troubling."[6] During this time he appeared in the dramas Michael Clayton (2007), and Solitary Man (2009). McGrath also was known for his documentaries, including His Way which profiled film producer and talent manager Jerry Weintraub and for Becoming Mike Nichols (2016). In 2011, he directed I Don't Know How She Does It. The film received mixed reviews, and it is considered a box-office bomb. During this time. he had a recurring role as Principal Toby Cook in the series Girls from 2015 to 2016. He also appeared in Woody Allen's series Crisis in Six Scenes (2016) and the limited series Godless (2017). In 2014, McGrath wrote the book for the Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. The musical received critical acclaim, and McGrath earned a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical nomination as well Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.[8] In 2022, he wrote his one-man show, Everything's Fine which was directed by John Lithgow and premiered Off-Broadway at the DR2 Theatre.[9] McGrath suffered a heart attack and died during the production's run.[10]
Personal life and death
Personal life and death
In 1995, McGrath married Jane Read Martin, a former assistant of Woody Allen and sister of author Ann M. Martin. They had one son. McGrath died of a heart attack at his office in Manhattan on November 3, 2022, at the age of 64.[11] He had been performing Off-Broadway in his solo autobiographical show Everything's Fine directed by John Lithgow at the Daryl Roth Theatre, a run which was cut short by his death.[12][13]
Actor
Actor
• Quiz Show (1994) – Snodgrass • The Daytrippers (1996) – Chap • aka En route vers Manhattan • Prix Fixe (1997) – Bob Waterman • Happiness (1998) – Tom • Celebrity (1998) – Bill Gaines • The Insider (1999) – Private Investigator • Company Man (2000) – Alan Quimp • Small Time Crooks (2000) – Frenchy's Lawyer • Hollywood Ending (2002) – Barbecue Guest • Michael Clayton (2007) – Jeff Gaffney • Solitary Man (2009) – Dean Edward Gitleson • Girls (2015–2016) - Principal Toby Cook • Café Society (2016) – Norman • Crisis in Six Scenes (2016) - Doug • Godless (2017) - Edward Solomon • Rifkin's Festival (2020) – Gil Brenner
Director
Director
• Emma (1996) • Company Man (2000) • Nicholas Nickleby (2002) • Infamous (2006) • His Way (2011) • I Don't Know How She Does It (2011) • Becoming Mike Nichols (2016)
Essays and reporting
Essays and reporting
*
Identity
Identity
Douglas McGrath is recorded as screenwriter, actor, opinion journalist and director.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2022
Douglas McGrath died at New York City.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Midland.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Writer
Writer
• Saturday Night Live (12 episodes, 1980–1981) • L.A. Law (1 episode: "One Rat, One Ranger", 1989) • Born Yesterday (1993) • Bullets Over Broadway (1994) (co-written with Woody Allen) • Emma (1996) • Company Man (2000) • Nicholas Nickleby (2002) • Infamous (2006) • Checkers (2012) (play about young Richard Nixon)[14] • Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (2014) (musical book)[15]
Books
Books
*
Awards and nominations
• Year — Award — Category — Work — Result • 1994 — Academy Awards — Best Original Screenplay — Bullets Over Broadway • 1994 — BAFTA Award — Best Original Screenplay • 1994 — Independent Spirit Award — Best Screenplay • 1994 — Writers Guild of America Awards — Best Original Screenplay • 1996 — Best Adapted Screenplay — Emma • 2014 — Tony Award — Best Book of a Musical — Beautiful: The Carole King Musical • 2016 — Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special — Becoming Mike Nichols
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.IMDb awards
- 2.Douglas McGrath Dies: 'Emma' Filmmaker, Writer Of 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical', Oscar-Nominated Co-Author Of Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway' Was 64. Deadline Hollywood. November 4, 2022.
- 3.Maslin, Janet. Film Festival Review; Allen's Ode to Theater and, as Always, New York. The New York Times. September 30, 1994.
- 4.Douglas McGrath, Tony and Oscar Nominee, Dies at 64. The Hollywood Reporter. November 4, 2022.
- 5.Review - Nicholas Nickleby. Rogerebert.com.
- 6.Scott, A.O. Truman Capote's Journey on 'In Cold Blood,' again. The New York Times. October 13, 2006.
- 7.Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Playbill.
- 8.Tony Awards 2014 Winners: The Complete List. The Hollywood Reporter. June 8, 2014.
- 9.John Lithgow Will Direct Douglas McGrath in Solo Show at Off-Broadway's DR2 Theatre. Playbill.
- 10.Douglas McGrath, 'Emma' filmmaker, Oscar nominee, dead at 64. WOSC-TV. November 5, 2022.
- 11.Genzlinger, Neil. Douglas McGrath, Playwright, Filmmaker and Actor, Dies at 64. The New York Times. November 4, 2022.
- 12.Everything's Fine Star Douglas McGrath Dies Suddenly. Playbill. November 4, 2022.
- 13.Rabinowitz, Chloe. Oscar and Tony Award Nominee Douglas McGrath Passes Away at 64. BroadwayWorld.com.
- 14.Kenneth Jones. New Works by Rajiv Joseph, Jenny Schwartz and Doug McGrath Will Cling to Vineyard's Vine in 2012–13. June 21, 2012.
- 15.Schuessler, Jennifer. Carole King Musical Is Broadway Bound. The New York Times. March 16, 2013.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
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