Born in 1938 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Terrence McNally began his Broadway career back in 1963 with an adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ novel The Lady of the Camellias, followed by a number of original plays, with The Ritz in 1975 winning Rita Moreno (who had already won an Oscar for West Side Story) a Tony.
His first major award win came in 1990, when he took home the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special for his installment of PBS’ American Playhouse.