Legendary Writer/Director Arthur Laurents of West Side Story and Gypsy Fame Dead at 93

Arthur Laurents, the legendary screenwriter, librettist and director, has died in his sleep at the age of 93, according to Deadline.com.

Laurents wrote the books to two of the most enduring musicals ever written, West Side Story and Gypsy. He also wrote the librettos to the musicals Anyone Can Whistle, Do I Hear a Waltz? (based on his play The Time of the Cuckoo), Hallelujah, Baby!, The Madwoman of Central Park West and Nick & Nora.

He also became a Tony-winning director with the smash hit ‘80s musical La Cage aux Folles. He often directed his own musicals, helming both the 1989 and 2008 Broadway revivals of Gypsy and the 2009 staging of West Side Story.

Among his Hollywood credits, Laurents wrote the screenplays to the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope, the classic romance The Way We Were and the ballet drama The Turning Point. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1977 for the latter, which also won him a Writers Guild of America Award.

Recently, Laurents was said to be involved in making a deal with Universal Pictures to make a new feature film of Gypsy starring Barbra Streisand.

Laurents also wrote the memoirs Original Story By and Mainly on Directing.