Feminist Playwright Wendy Wasserstein Dies at 55

Wendy Wasserstein, a prizewinning playwright whose works addressed feminism and the challenges of women's lives, passed away yesterday. She was 55 years old, and had been fighting lymphoma for several months. "Her work was serious, and she put to art form the struggles and the current issues facing modern women," said Eleanor Smeal, president of Feminist Majority Foundation. "I know feminists through the country will be very sad."

Wasserstein’s plays include Uncommon Women and Others, The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosenswieg, and most recently Third, which opened in October. Wasserstein was a dedicated feminist, and her satirically comic plays examined the changes and challenges that feminism produced in women’s lives and relationships. She was the first woman to win a Tony Award for playwriting, with The Heidi Chronicles, for which she also won the Pulitzer Prize.

LEARN MORE Read a reflection on Wasserstein’s life and friendship at Ms.

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Media Resources: Chicago Sun-Times 1/31/06; Reuters 1/31/06; Washington Post 1/31/06

© Feminist Majority Foundation, publisher of Ms. magazine

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