Mark O’Donnell, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning writer behind hit musical Hairspray, has died at the age of 58.
O’Donnell co-wrote the musical adaptation of John Waters’ cult film with Thomas Meehan, receiving 11 Olivier Award nominations following its opening in the West End and winning the accolade for Best New Musical at the prestigious awards ceremony in 2008.
Following the success of Hairspray, which was also staged on Broadway, abroad and toured the UK numerous times, the writing duo collaborated on a musical adaptation of another of Waters’ films, Cry-Baby, which opened on Broadway in 2008.
O’Donnell’s plays include Vertigo Park, The Nice And The Nasty, That’s It, Folks!, Fables For Friends and Strangers On Earth, but his writing talent also extended to novels, of which he wrote several, including Getting Over Homer and Let Nothing You Dismay.
A hugely talented and popular writer, O’Donnell was honoured on Twitter by stage and screen star Martha Plimpton, who said: “So terribly sad to lose the lovely, dear, and kind Mark O’Donnell. Funny, sweet. I’ll miss seeing him round the neighborhood. Very, very sad.”