Raised in Corpus Christi, Texas

At age six, taken by family to NYC where they saw Broadway production of "Annie Get Your Gun" starring Ethel Merman

Around age 12, visited NYC with parents and saw Gertrude Lawrence in "The King and I" about three nights before she left the show and several weeks before her death

Around age 15, first heard opera star Maria Callas on radio broadcasts in Texas

Moved to NYC at age 17 to attend Columbia University

During summer vacations from college, worked as journalist for his hometown paper THE CALLER-TIMES

Traveling in England as a Columbia student, first saw actress Zoe Caldwell at Stratford-on-Avon; swore that he would write a play for her one day

First writing for the theater, the book for the Columbia Varsity Show of 1960

Traveled to Mexico for six months with prize money from a English department fellowship from Columbia University

Returned to NYC; wrote "This Side of the Door", a long one-act one-character play

Sent play to Elia Kazan's wife, Molly, who ran the Actors Studio's Playwrights and Directors Unit in New York

At Molly Kazan's encouragement, interned as a stage manager at Actors Studio (date approximate)

Referred by Mrs Kazan to spend a year traveling around the world as the tutor of author John Steinbeck's two sons

Returned to NYC; settled in Greenwich Village (date approximate)

Broadway debut, "The Lady of the Camellias", his adaptation of the Alexander Dumas novel, "devised, designed and directed" by Franco Zeffirelli

Had first original full-length play, "And Things That Go Bump in the Night", produced in Minneapolis

At age 26, had "And Things That Go Bump in the Night" produced on Broadway; play flopped critically and commercially

Had first teleplay produced, "Apple Pie and Last Gasps"

Had three plays--"Sweet Eros/Witness", "Tour", and "Cuba Si"--produced Off-Broadway; had "Noon", his segment of a program of three one-act plays collectively entitled "Morning, Noon and Night", produced on Broadway

Removed name from the book of the stage musical "Here's Where I Belong", based on "East of Eden"; show closed after one performance

Had first Off-Broadway hit with "Next", a comedy starring James Coco

"Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?", one of his favorites of his plays, premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre with Henry Winkler and James Naughton before opening Off-Broadway

Had a Broadway hit with "The Ritz", a broad farce about intrigue in a gay bathhouse

Feature screenwriting debut, an adaptation of stage farce, "The Ritz"; directed for the screen by Richard Lester

"Broadway, Broadway", his comedy about a disastrous opening night, closed after a terrible Philadelphia tryout

Had "The Lisbon Traviata" produced as a radio play

First work performed on PBS' "Great Performances", his adaptation of "The Five Forty-Eight", a John Cheever story

Appeared regularly as a panelist on "Texaco Opera Quiz", a syndicated radio show

TV series debut, produced the short-lived CBS sitcom, "Mama Malone"; also wrote for series

Work began to shift from relatively broad joke-oriented comedy to more character-driven, dark-tinged comedy

Provided the book for the John Kander-Fred Ebb musical "The Rink" starring Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera; first collaboration with Kander and Ebb

Rewrote the failed "Broadway, Broadway" as "It's Only a Play"; produced at the Manhattan Theater Club; first collaboration with Christine Baranski

Had Off-Broadway hit with the romantic comedy-drama "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune"; role of Frankie written for actress Kathy Bates

With Wendy Wasserstein, co-wrote the comedy segment of the ABC special "Liza Minnelli in Sam Found Out: A Triple Play"

First collaboration with actor Nathan Lane, the Off-Broadway stage production of "The Lisbon Traviata"

Wrote "A Good Life", a half hour episode of "Trying Times", a PBS comedy-anthology series

Won an Emmy for writing "Andre's Mother", an hour-long drama for PBS' "American Playhouse", dealing with the emotional aftermath of AIDS; starred Sada Thompson and Richard Thomas

Wrote the screenplay adaptation of his stage play "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" as "Frankie and Johnny"; the Garry Marshall-directed film starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino

Had an Off-Broadway hit with "Lips Together, Teeth Apart"; another collaboration with Lane and Baranski

Wrote book for the Kander-Ebb revised musical version of Manuel Puig's novel "Kiss of the Spider Woman"; premiered in London before moving to Broadway

Wrote "The Last Mile", a segment of PBS' "Great Performances' 20th Anniversary Special", starring Bernadette Peters as a soprano making her debut at the Met

First collaboration with actress Zoe Caldwell, "A Perfect Ganesh"; produced Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theater Company

Contributed one of nine one-act plays, "The Wibbly, Wobbly, Wiggly Dance That Cleopatterer Did", to "Naked at the Coast", the West Coast debut of the NYC theater company Naked Angels

Devoted much of the year to co-teaching playwriting with John Guare at Juilliard

Premiered the successful comedy-drama "Love! Valor! Compassion!" at the Manhattan Theater Club; another successful collaboration with Lane

"Love! Valor! Compassion!" opened on Broadway and received the Tony Award

"Master Class" opened on Broadway starring Zoe Caldwell; wrote part of opera diva Maria Callas for her; dedicated play to Elaine Steinbeck

Contributed one of three short plays to "By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea"; premiered at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor; other one-acts were by Lanford Wilson and Joe Pintauro

Film version of "Love! Valour! Compassion!" delayed when Nathan Lane left the project

Wrote book for "Ragtime, The Musical"; premiered in Toronto in December; opened on Broadway in January 1998

Adapted his Tony Award-winning play "Love! Valour! Compassion!" as a feature film directed by Joe Mantello; premiered at 1997 Sundance Film Festival

New play "Corpus Christi" was subject of controversy; Manhattan Theatre Club announced intention to produce but backed down when it received threats after the plot, which involves a modern-day Jesus figure, was revealed; after other writers planned to boycott the company, MTC reinstated the play; opened in October to mostly negative reviews

Penned the libretto for the stage musical "The Full Monty"; received a Tony nomination