Frank D Gilroy, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, dies aged 89

Frank D Gilroy, whose play about a veteran’s fraught return home, The Subject Was Roses, won him a Pulitzer prize, died on Saturday in Monroe, New York. He was 89.

He died of natural causes, his family announced through a statement.

Gilroy, who served in the army from 1943 to 1946, won a Tony award for The Subject Was Roses. It premiered on Broadway in May 1964 with a cast comprising Jack Albertson, Irene Dailey and Martin Sheen. He then wrote a screenplay for a 1968 film adaptation starring Albertson and Patricia Neal, which would earn both actors Oscar nominations, resulting in a win for Albertson.

The Bronx native attended Dartmouth and the Yale drama school after serving in the army and went on to work as a screenwriter for live television and film for years. Credits include shows Studio One in Hollywood and Playhouse 90, and films The Gallant Hours and The Fastest Gun Alive. Gilroy also directed movies for television and the big screen, including the 1971 Shirley MacLaine drama Desperate Characters.

His three sons all work in the film industry. Both Tony Gilroy and Dan Gilroy are writer-directors. Tony wrote the first three “Bourne” films and co-wrote (with Dan) and directed The Bourne Legacy, which starred Jeremy Renner. Dan Gilroy wrote and directed the Los Angeles noir Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and his own wife, actor Rene Russo. John Gilroy, a seasoned film editor, also worked on Nightcrawler.

In addition to his sons, Frank Gilroy is survived by Ruth, his wife of 62 years, and five grandchildren.