Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Frank D. Gilroy Dies At 89
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank D. Gilroy, whose play about a veteran's fraught return home, "The Subject Was Roses," won him a Pulitzer Prize, died Saturday in Monroe, New York. He was 89.
He passed away of natural causes, his family announced through a statement.
Gilroy, who served in the Army from 1943 to 1946 in the European Theatre, also won a Tony Award for "The Subject Was Roses." It premiered on Broadway in May of 1964. He then wrote a screenplay for a 1968 film adaptation starring Jack Albertson and Patricia Neal, which would earn both supporting Oscar nominations and a win for Albertson.
The Bronx native attended Dartmouth and the Yale Drama School after serving in the Army and went on to work as a screenwriter for live television and film for years. Credits include shows "Studio One in Hollywood," and "Playhouse 90," and films "The Gallant Hours," and "The Fastest Gun Alive." Gilroy also directed movies for television and the big screen, including the 1971 Shirley MacLaine drama "Desperate Characters."
His three sons all currently work in the film industry. Both Tony Gilroy and Dan Gilroy followed directly in their father's footsteps as writer-directors. Tony Gilroy wrote the first three "Bourne" films and co-wrote (with Dan Gilroy) and directed "The Bourne Legacy," which starred Jeremy Renner.
Dan Gilroy, meanwhile, gained attention in the industry for the Los Angeles noir "Nightcrawler," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and his own wife, actress Rene Russo. John Gilroy, a seasoned film editor, also worked on "Nightcrawler."
In addition to his sons, he is survived by Ruth, his wife of 62 years, and five grandchildren.
(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)