American playwright and screenwriter Doug Wright was BOTD in 1962. Born in Dallas, Texas, he studied at Yale University before majoring in drama at New York University. He rose to fame with his 1995 play Quills, a black comedy imagining the last days of the Marquis de Sade, later writing the screenplay for the successful 2000 film version. His 2003 play I Am My Own Wife, a monologue based on the life of German trans activist Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, was originally produced Off-Broadway in 2003, starring Jefferson Mays. It subsequently transferred to Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He had further success as the writer of Grey Gardens, a musical based on a 1975 documentary about Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith “Little Edie” Beale, former socialites who descended into lives of squalor at their home on Long Island. Premiering off-Broadway in 2006, with music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, it transferred successfully to Broadway, nominated for 10 Tony Awards and winning three, including for Wright’s script. He then wrote the book for a stage musical adaptation of the animated film The Little Mermaid, with music by Alan Menken and song lyrics by Howard Ashman. He reunited with Frankel and Korie for the 2016 musical War Paint, focusing on the professional rivalry between cosmetics giants Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, transferring to Broadway in 2017. His play Good Night, starring Sean Hayes as bipolar musician Oscar Levant, opened on Broadway in 2023 and transferred to London in 2024. Wright lives in New York City with his husband, singer-songwriter David Clement.