Douglas McGrath, Tony and Oscar Nominee, Dies at 64

Douglas McGrath, a Tony- and Academy Award-nominated writer, director and performer, has died. He was 64.

McGrath died suddenly on Thursday, the company of his autobiographical play Everything Is Fine announced Friday.

At the time of his death, McGrath was in New York City, where he was in the midst of performing in Everything Is Fine at off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre. The show will not continue after playing its performance on Wednesday. 

“The company of Everything’s Fine was honored to have presented his solo autobiographical show. Everyone who worked with him over the last three months of production was struck by his grace, charm, and droll sense of humor, and sends deepest condolences to his family,” producers Daryl Roth, Tom Werner and director John Lithgow said in a statement. 

McGrath had a career that spanned the theater world and Hollywood, garnering a Tony Award nomination for writing the book of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay of Bullets Over Broadway, co-written with Woody Allen.

McGrath was the writer and director of several films, including Emma, Nicholas Nickleby, Company Man (co-written and co-directed with Peter Askin) and Infamous. He directed two Emmy-nominated HBO documentaries, His Way and Becoming Mike Nichols. He appeared in seven Woody Allen films and in films such as Quiz Show and The Insider. He also wrote The Age of Innocence and Checkers for the stage. 

McGrath was born to Beatrice and R. Searle McGrath and raised in Midland, Texas. He was an alumnus of the Trinity School of Midland, The Choate School and Princeton University.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Read Martin, and son, Henry McGrath.