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D.L. Coburn, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright of The Gin Game, Dies at 87

by Beth Stevens

D.L. Coburn, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose debut play The Gin Game became an enduring work that is still widely produced, died of colon cancer on December 3 in Dallas, Texas. He was 87. Born Donald Lee Coburn on August 4, 1938 in Baltimore, Coburn did not follow a traditional path to the theater. After graduating from high school, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as an advertising copywriter…

SOURCE: Broadway.com at 1:24pm on December 12, 2025