Roger O. Hirson

Roger O. Hirson was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He was born on May 5, 1926. Throughout the 1950s, Hirson created a career writing for television anthology series such as The Armstrong Circle Theatre, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, and The DuPont Show of the Week. He later wrote plays, including World War 2½ and Journey to the Day, which saw off-Broadway runs. Hirson is most notable for his contributions to the musical theatre for having written the books for Walking Happy and the Stephen Schwartz-composed Pippin, which both received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical. Additionally, Hirson won an Emmy Award for his six-hour 1991 television miniseries about first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, A Woman Named Jackie. Prior to a divorce, Hirson was married to actress Alice Hirson (of Dallas and Ellen fame), with whom he had a son, David, who penned the award-winning Broadway comedies La Bête and Wrong Mountain. Hirson died in May 2019 at the age of 93.