Arthur Laurents, the cantankerous but brilliant writer, producer and director, has died at age 93. Among his greatest successes were the "books" or stories he wrote for the classic Broadway productions of Gypsy and West Side Story. Laurents remained active in the Broadway community, bringing revivals of both plays to the stage in recent years and updating them to make it possible for modern audiences to better relate to the storylines. Laurents was a progressive who used his talents to denounce prejudice and political witch hunts. His play Home of the Brave was turned into one of the first successful movies to deal with issues of prejudice in the U.S. military. His 1973 smash hit movie romance The Way We Were also had a backdrop set against the McCarthy hearings. Laurents' stage musical I Can Get It For You Wholesale provided a teenaged Barbra Streisand with a star-making role. Among Laurents' other major successes: the screenplays for Anastasia and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. For more click here