George Furth, an actor and playwright who wrote the book for the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company," died Monday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 75. "Company" was an unconventional musical that followed the tribulations of a 30-something New York bachelor and his inability to commit to a relationship. Furth won a Tony for his book of the show, which was directed by Harold Prince and featured the choreography of Michael Bennett. "Merrily We Roll Along," based on a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, was Furth's second musical collaboration with Sondheim. They also collaborated on "Getting Away with Murder," a comedy thriller that had a short Broadway run in 1996.
Howard Minsky, a former Hollywood talent agent and producer of the movie "Love Story," died in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 94. Minsky's daughter, Marcia Halperin, said her father began his career during the silent film era and sold reels of film door-to-door before breaking into the Hollywood scene. Minsky worked as an executive for 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures and as a talent agent for the William Morris Agency.
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