Broadway Will Dim Lights In Memory Of Gore Vidal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Broadway theaters will dim their marquee lights for one minute on Friday night in memory of Gore Vidal.
The playwright, author, politician and commentator died Tuesday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia. He was 86.
The acerbic Vidal was known for such best-selling novels as "Burr'' and "Myra Breckenridge,'' the play "The Best Man'' -- which is now playing on Broadway. He also wrote scores of essays on everything from politics and literature to sex and religion.
In the 1960s and '70s, he was a fixture on talk shows and other television programs and feuded openly with Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley and others. He also worked on screenplays and appeared in several movies, including "Bob Roberts'' and "With Honors.''
Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, called Vidal's work both "timely and timeless.''
"The Best Man," which was written in 1960, ran for 520 performances on Broadway before it was brought to the big screen in 1964. The movie version starred Henry Fonda.
The play was revived on Broadway in 2000 and another revival is now showing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
The show was nominated for a Tony Award in 1960 for Best Play and in 2012 for Best Revival of a Play.
The lights will be dimmed at exactly 8 p.m. Friday.
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