British Playwright Simon Gray Dies at 71

Simon Gray, British playwright of several known plays including “Butley,” “Otherwise Engaged” and “Quartermaine’s Terms,” reportedly passed away Wednesday in London at the age of 71. While no cause of death was specified, over the past year it have become known that Gray had both prostate cancer and lung cancer. The New York Times describes him as “the embodiment of literary stereotype” as a heavy drinker and excessive smoker all of his life.

Gray’s publications include 40 stage plays, screenplays and television plays, plus 5 novels. He was also a lecturer in drama, poetry and English literature at Queen Mary, University of London. He is survived by his wife Victoria Rothschild, and two children Benjamin and Lucy, from his first wife.