Perfect Crime Playwright Warren Manzi Has Died

Writer, director, and actor Warren Manzi, author of the longest-running play in New York theater history, died on February 11 from pneumonia in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was 60 years old.

Born on July 1, 1955, in New Hampshire and raised in Massachusetts, Manzi attended Worcester's College of the Holy Cross before attaining a master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1980. After finishing his education, Manzi moved to New York City where he pursued a career as an actor.

It was while working as an ensemble member and understudy to Tim Curry in the 1980 Broadway production of Amadeus that Manzi completed Perfect Crime, which would go on to become the longest-running straight play in New York theater history. When the murder mystery thriller was considered for Broadway production, Manzi, at the age of 25, became the youngest American ever to have a play optioned for Broadway.

Though never produced on Broadway, Perfect Crime was eventually presented for a four-week limited run at the Courtyard Playhouse beginning April 18, 1987. Since that time, Perfect Crime has gone on to occupy a long list of off-Broadway theaters including the Second Stage, the Harold Clurman Theater, and the Duffy Theatre, before eventually landing at its current home at the Theater Center.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Perfect Crime's long run is its leading lady Catherine Russell, who has starred in the show since its first performance. In her nearly 30-year, 11,820-performance tenure, Russell has taken only four vacation days.

In addition to Perfect Crime, Warren Manzi's works include Cleo Liberman's All Girl Revue, The Award and Other Plays, and Stages, all of which have been produced in New York. While living in Hollywood, Manzi wrote several screenplays, including two versions of the movie Clue for John Landis. As an actor, he appeared in 1986's The Manhattan Project and 1987's Nuts.

Manzi's directing work includes the world premieres of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Between Time and Timbuktu and Samm-Art William's Cork as well as Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros. He is a five-time winner of the Best Director Award at the New England Theatre Conference.

Manzi's wife, Ellen Margaret Michelin, died due to kidney failure in 1996, the year after the couple were married. He leaves no immediate survivors. According to his publicist, before his death, Manzi was working on a novel and several short stories.