Broadway producer Morton Gottlieb dies

NEW YORK, June 28 (UPI) -- Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Morton Gottlieb has died in Englewood, N.J., at the age of 88, his family said.

Gottlieb died Thursday of natural causes, his niece Hildy Gottlieb Hill told Sunday's The New York Times.

During his long career, Gottlieb produced four plays nominated for best-play Tony Awards, including "Sleuth," which won in 1971. Gottlieb devoted his career to championing original scripts and was revered by investors for his thriftiness, his niece said.

"When I worked for him, you had to reuse an envelope," Hill said.

Gottlieb's two biggest successes were "Sleuth," an Anthony Shaffer thriller that opened on Broadway in 1970 and ran for nearly three years, and "Same Time, Next Year," Slade's play about an long-term adulterous affair, which opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran until September 1978.

Gottlieb was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and entered the theater world as a press agent after studying drama at Yale. His first production was the 1953 summer stock performance of "Arms and the Man," which featured the last stage appearance by Marlon Brando, the Times reported.

Gottlieb is survived by Hill, a sister-in-law, Claire Gottlieb, of New York and another niece, Wendy Gottlieb, of Southampton, N.Y.