Thomas Meehan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Edward Meehan (1929-08-14)August 14, 1929 Ossining, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 21, 2017(2017-08-21) (aged 88) Greenwich Village, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Notable works | Annie The Producers Hairspray |
| Notable awards | Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical |
| Spouse |
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| Children | 4 |
Thomas Edward Meehan (August 14, 1929[1][2] – August 21, 2017) was an American writer. He wrote thebooks for the musicalsAnnie,The Producers,Hairspray,Young Frankenstein andCry-Baby. He co-wrote the books forElf: The Musical andLimelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin.[3]
He received theTony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times—in 1977 forAnnie, in 2001 forThe Producers (shared withMel Brooks), and in 2003 forHairspray (shared withMark O'Donnell).[4]
His father, Thomas, was a businessman, and his mother, Helen Cecilia O'Neill, was anemergency department nurse.[5]
Meehan moved to Manhattan at age 24, and worked atThe New Yorker's "Talk of the Town".[6]
In 1972, Meehan was approached byMartin Charnin to work on a musical based on the comic stripLittle Orphan Annie.[4] At first, Meehan was skeptical to accept the offer, but eventually accepted the offer after reading the strip.[5] Meehan wroteAnnie withCharles Strouse, who wrote the music, and Martin Charnin who directed and wrote the lyrics.[7] The production took five years to get toBroadway, but after opening in 1977 ran for 2,377 performances.[5]
Additional credits includeAin't Broadway Grand;Oh, Kay!;Bombay Dreams; a musical adaptation ofI Remember Mama; andAnnie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge, which was subsequently reworked and re-stagedOff-Broadway asAnnie Warbucks.[8] He also wrote thelibretto to the opera1984.[9][4]
In addition, Meehan was a long-time contributor of humor toThe New Yorker, including the famous short story "Yma Dream"; anEmmy Award-winning writer of television comedy; and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, includingMel Brooks'Spaceballs; a remake ofTo Be or Not to Be; and the family dramaOne Magic Christmas.[10] Meehan went on to work with Brooks on other projects on Broadway, includingThe Producers, based on the1967 film. The show became a Broadway hit that dominated the2001 Tony Awards and ran for more than 2,500 performances.[5]
Meehan followed that withHairspray, an adaptation based onJohn Waters's1988 film of the same name. It opened in 2002 and ran for 2,642 performances.[5] He co-wrote the book, withBob Martin, forElf the Musical.[9][4][11] He co-wrote the book for the production of the musicalLimelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin which ran at theLa Jolla Playhouse in 2010[12] and premiered on Broadway in 2012. In 2011 he revised the book originally written byPeter Stone for the Off-Broadway musicalDeath Takes a Holiday with music and lyrics byMaury Yeston.[13]
In 2012, Meehan wrote the book from the original screenplay bySylvester Stallone[14] for the musicalRocky.[15] The show premiered inHamburg in 2012,[16] before transferring toBroadway in 2014.[4][17]
Meehan held the distinction of being the only writer to have written three Broadway shows that ran for more than 2,000 performances.[18] Reflecting on his work in an interview withThe New York Observer in 1999, Meehan said "I wrote stories that were serious, very somber, trying to be in the style ofWilliam Faulkner. My career has always been that every time I try something really serious, it's no good, but if I try to be funny, then it works".[19]
Meehan died from cancer at his home inManhattan on August 21, 2017, one week after his 88th birthday.[20][5] Five months prior to his death, Meehan had undergone surgery, which later caused his health to deteriorate.[21]
Meehan was survived by two children from his first marriage with Karen Meehan, which ended in divorce, and three other children with Carolyn Wagstaff Capstick, whom he married in 1988 and with whom he remained until his death.[5]
Mel Brooks memorialized Meehan, tweeting "I'll miss his sweetness & talent. We have all lost a giant of the theatre."[22]
In 2023 his archives were donated to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Billy Rose Theatre Division.[23]
