Hugh Wheeler

{{Short description|British novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator (1912–1987)}}

{{for multi|the British general|Hugh Wheeler (East India Company officer)|the Archdeacon of Lahore|Hugh Wheeler (priest)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

{{infobox writer

|name = Hugh Wheeler

|birth_date = {{birth date|1912|3|19|df=yes}}

|birth_place = London, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|1987|7|26|1912|3|19|df=yes}}

|death_place = Pittsfield, Massachusetts, US

|occupation = {{hlist|Novelist|screenwriter|dramatist|poet}}

|alma_mater = University of London

|citizenship = {{ubl|United Kingdom|United States}}

}}

Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987) was a British-American novelist, screenwriter, librettist, poet and translator. Born in London, he moved to the United States as a young man, and became a naturalized citizen in 1942. He had attended London University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=AH55a4gbNYDcVOkKanmeEA&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=11 October 2024|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}Hampton, Wilborn.[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/28/obituaries/hugh-wheeler-award-winning-playwright.html "Hugh Wheeler, Award Winning Playwright"], New York Times, 28 July 1987.

Under the nom de plume Patrick Quentin, Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge, Wheeler was the author or co-author of many mystery novels and short stories. In 1963, his 1961 collection, The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He won the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical in 1973 and 1974 for his books for the musicals A Little Night Music and Candide, and won both again in 1979 for his book for Sweeney Todd.

Wheeler is credited as "research consultant" for the film Cabaret, though numerous sources list him as co-writer of the screenplay.{{cite web|last=Kemp|first=Peter H.|url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/5/cabaret.html|title=Cabaret: Senses of Cinema|publisher=Archive.sensesofcinema.com|access-date=14 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225055017/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/00/5/cabaret.html|archive-date=25 December 2010}}{{Cite book|author=Kael, Pauline|title=5001 Nights at the Movies|publisher=Henry Holt and Company, LLC|year=1991|isbn=9780805013672|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NlZpWZn4JsC&q=cabaret+wheeler+hugh&pg=PA112|access-date=27 August 2010}}

A resident of Monterey, Massachusetts, Wheeler died from respiratory failure and heart failure at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on 26 July 1987, aged 75.{{IBDB name|6402}}{{cite news|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-01-me-294-story.html|title = Hugh Wheeler Dies; Wrote Books, Musicals|date = 1 August 1987|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|url-access = limited|agency = Associated Press|accessdate = 11 October 2024}}