Writer Jay Presson Allen, who wrote the screen adaptation of Cabaret as well as Tru , the acclaimed one-man show about Truman Capote, died Monday at her home in New York City, according to The New York Times. Allen was featured in the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet discussing her work on Cabaret , one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to portray bisexuality in a positive light. Robert Morse covered himself in latex and won a Tony for his portrayal of Capote in Tru. Allen's other Broadway hits include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (which she adapted into an Oscar-winning film) and Forty Carats.
Her other screenplays include Sidney Lumet's Deathtrap (which featured a legendary kiss between Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve), Just Tell Me What You Want , Prince of the City, Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie, George Cukor's Travels With My Aunt, and the musical sequel Funny Lady. In addition to Morse's Tony win for Tru, Allen's scripts led to Tony awards for Zoe Caldwell (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) and Julie Harris (Forty Carats) as well as Oscars for Liza Minnelli and Maggie Smith for Cabaret and Brodie, respectively.
Her daughter, Brooke Allen, told the Times that the cause of death was a stroke. Born Jay Presson in Fort Worth, Texas, she took the name of her husband, producer Lewis Allen, to whom she was married from 1955 to 2003, when he died. She is also survived by two grandchildren. (The Advocate)
