Murray Horwitz


Murray Horwitz is an American playwright, lyricist, NPR broadcaster, and arts administrator.

Education

Horwitz graduated from Kenyon College with a bachelor of arts degree, with a dual major, in English and Drama. In 1992, he received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Kenyon College.

Career

Horwitz began his career working with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus as a clown for three years.
In 1973, after moving to New York City, Horwitz appeared in the one-man show, An Evening Of Sholom Aleichem, which was directed by Richard Maltby, Jr., and in which he continues to perform at The Kennedy Center, The Manhattan Theatre Club, and The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater. In 1978, Horwitz and Maltby created the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, which won Tony, Obie, Emmy, Grammy, and New York Drama Critics' Circle awards.
He became the assistant director of Opera-Musical Theater at the National Endowment for the Arts in 1987. Horwitz created Ain't Misbehavin' with Richard Maltby, Jr. The musical is named after a Fats Waller song. Horwitz received multiple awards for co-writing Ain't Misbehavin, including a Tony, Obie, Emmy, Grammy, and New York Drama Critics' Circle award.
Since 1998, Horwitz has been creative consultant to the annual Mark Twain Prize ceremonies at the Kennedy Center.
In 1989, he began his career at NPR, where he was instrumental in giving Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me its start. He was also involved with Wynton Marsalis: Making the Music, and The NPR Basic Jazz Record Library. Horwitz received three Peabody awards for his work at NPR.
In 2002, Horwitz became the founding director of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, in Silver Spring, Maryland. He later served in fundraising positions at Washington National Opera and the Washington Performing Arts Society. He was part of the team that created the radio game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. He is also frequently a panelist on another public radio game show, Says You!. Horwitz was the director and chief executive officer of the AFI Silver Theatre and Culture Center from 2002 until 2009.
In 2016, Horwitz took over as host of WAMU's The Big Broadcast old-time radio show.
He gave Lin-Manuel Miranda critical suggestions and bought him his first rhyming dictionary when Miranda was writing his first play, In The Heights.

Credits and achievements

Horwitz was born in Dayton, Ohio on September 28, 1949 to Alan S. and Charlotte Horwitz. He is married to singer Lisa Miller and has three children, Charles, Ann, and Alexander. They live in Chevy Chase, MD.