{{short description|American playwright}} '''Warren Michael Manzi''' (July 1, 1955 – February 11, 2016) was an American playwright and actor, who was best known for the play ''Perfect Crime'', the longest running play in New York City's history.
==Early life== Manzi was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, to a single mother of Italian descent. His family later moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he attended Holy Rosary School and Central Catholic High School.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Marquard|first1=Bryan|title=Warren Manzi, at 60; wrote N.Y.'s longest-running play|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2016/02/17/warren-manzi-whose-perfect-crime-new-york-longest-running-play-dies/gaV1HGbJLBMwyO8wpZH2xI/story.html|accessdate=February 19, 2016|work=Boston Globe|date=February 17, 2016}}</ref> He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and obtained a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama.<ref name="nytobit" />
== Career == Manzi wrote ''Perfect Crime'' in 1980 at age 25, while an understudy for a role in ''Amadeus'' on Broadway.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warren Manzi |url=https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/1876/warren-manzi |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Concord Theatricals |language=en}}</ref> Early reviews of ''Perfect Crime'' described it as confusing, and Manzi continually rewrote the play throughout the rest of his life.<ref name=":0" /> ''Perfect Crime'' opened in New York City on April 18, 1987 and was performed over 11,800 times throughout Manzi's lifetime, becoming the longest running play in city theatre history.<ref name=":0" /> Manzi also wrote ''One for the Money'' and ''The Queen of the Parting Shot''.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Margalit|title=Warren Manzi, Whose 'Perfect Crime' Is New York's Longest-Running Play, Dies at 60|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/15/theater/warren-manzi-whose-perfect-crime-is-new-yorks-longest-running-play-dies-at-60.html?_r=1|accessdate=February 15, 2016|work=New York Times|date=February 14, 2016}}</ref>
As an actor, Manzi appeared in the films ''The Manhattan Project'' (1986) and ''Nuts'' (1987).<ref name="nytobit"/>
== Personal life == He was married to Ellen Margaret Michelin from 1995 to 1996, when she died of kidney failure.<ref name=":0" />
Manzi died of pneumonia aged 60 in 2016, in Lawrence, Massachusetts.<ref name="nytobit" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{iobdb name|11788}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzi, Warren}} Category:1955 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from Manchester, New Hampshire Category:College of the Holy Cross alumni Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American male film actors Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts Category:American writers of Italian descent Category:Writers from Lawrence, Massachusetts Category:Male actors from Manchester, New Hampshire