Tony award-winning playwright Terrence McNally dies of coronavirus complications

Acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally has died of complications due to coronavirus. According to Deadline, McNally, 81, was a lung cancer survivor with chronic pulmonary disease and died Tuesday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida. The death of the author of "Master Class" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" was confirmed by his spokesperson Matt Polk. The four time Tony winner is survived by his husband, Broadway producer Tom Kirdahy.

McNally wrote landmark and popular plays and musicals which also include "Ragtime", "The Ritz", "The Full Monty", "Love! Valour! Compassion!", "Kiss of the Spider Woman". The playwright was openly gay and often wrote about the lives of gay men in his plays. Actors George Takei, Mark Hamill and Lin-Manuel Miranda took to Twitter to remember McNally.

Takei said the writer was a "legend among legends on Broadway". "If you are an actor, there's a good chance you have performed one of his works. If not, you surely will in your career, he was that prolific and gifted," the "Star Trek" actor wrote.

Hamill quoted McNally in his tweet, saying, "'A lot of people stop learning in life and that's their tragedy.' - Terrence McNally, one of the most brilliant and prolific playwrights... EVER." Miranda said he was "heartbroken" over McNally's death. "... a giant in our world, who straddled plays and musicals deftly. Grateful for his staggering body of work and his unfailing kindness," the Hamilton creator said.

McNally's more recent productions were "Anastasia" and "Mothers and Sons". He received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre last year.

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