Photo: JONATHON ZIEGLER/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Norman Steinberg, the co-writer ofBlazing Saddles, has died, PEOPLE can confirm. He was 83.
Steinberg died on March 15 while he was at his Hudson Valley home in upstate New York, his daughter Daphne tells PEOPLE.
PerVariety, a memorial service for the Brooklyn-born screenwriterwill be held in New York in the spring.
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JONATHON ZIEGLER/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
The lawyer-turned-comedy scribe was most known for his legendary team-up withMel Brooks, and in 1971 heearned an Emmy winforThe Flip Wilson Show.
Brooks, 96, paid tribute to Steinberg in a Twitter post on Wednesday, after news broke of his death.
“It’s a sad day when Norman Steinberg leaves us,” Brooks wrote of his former work partner. “From BLAZING SADDLES to MY FAVORITE YEAR, he wasone of the best writers I ever worked with. I’m so glad I rescued him from a dull stable legal career, because he always permeated the writers room with his infectious comic spirit.”
According toTHR,Brooks met Steinberg at the Chock Full O’Nuts café in Brooklyn, which was across from Steinberg’s law office, when the future EGOT winner gave the lawyer a shot at writing a spy spoof script for him,Get Smart.
The move prompted Steinberg to end his legal career and instead try out a career in Hollywood. AfterSaddles, Steinberg wound upheading comedy development for Paramount Television
Some of Steinberg’s other famous films includeJohnny Dangerously(1984) withMichael Keaton,My Favorite Year(1982) with the latePeter O’TooleandYes, Giorgio(1982) with the late Italian opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti.
source: people.com
