I Ought to Be in Pictures
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I Ought to Be in Pictures is a play by Neil Simon.
The three-character comedy-drama focuses on Herb, a struggling, writer's-blocked screenwriter who abandoned his family sixteen years earlier. Now daughter Libby has arrived on the West Hollywood doorstep of the father she barely remembers, convinced he can jump start the film acting career she desires. Dispensing guilt and demanding love, she not only forces Herb to deal with the responsibilities of parenthood, but to come to terms with his on-again/off-again relationship with adoring girlfriend Steffy as well.
The play, Simon's eighteenth, had its premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 1979, with Tony Curtis as Herb. After seventeen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Herbert Ross, opened on April 3, 1980 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it ran for 324 performances. Ron Liebman as Herb, Dinah Manoff as Libby, and Joyce Van Patten as Steffy comprised the cast. Bill Macy and Dick Latessa subsequently portrayed Herb.
Manoff's performance won her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and the Theatre World Award.
Simon adapted his play for a 1982 film version directed by Ross. Manoff reprised her role of Libby, with Walter Matthau as Herb and Ann-Margret as Steffy. Additional characters portrayed by Lance Guest and David Faustino, among others, were added to the plot.
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