Warren Manzi, writer of long-running 'Perfect Crime,' dies

NEW YORK (AP) - Playwright and director Warren Manzi, whose cat-and-mouse thriller "Perfect Crime" is the longest-running play in New York history, died Thursday of pneumonia in Lawrence, Massachusetts, according to the show's publicist, Daniel DeMello. Manzi was 60.

"Perfect Crime," which opened in April 18, 1987, is now in its 29th year, led by actress Catherine Russell, who has played the role of a wealthy psychiatrist - and potential killer of her husband - over 11,800 times.

Manzi, a 1980 graduate of the Yale School of Drama, wrote "Perfect Crime" in 1980, while working as Tim Curry's understudy as Mozart on Broadway in "Amadeus." He later directed plays by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Samm-Art Williams.

"Perfect Crime" is currently at The Anne L. Bernstein Theater on Broadway at 50th Street.