Born in New Bedford, Mass.; attended Harvard University. In addition to his acclaim as the writer of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, he also suffered from manic depression, and in 1972 was arrested by the FBI for saying he was planning to shoot then-president Nixon. The character "Tony Clifton" was somewhat based off of Norman Wexler, from Andy Kaufman's hearing stories of Wexler's behavior from Bob Zmuda. Other writing credits are DRUM (1976), STAYING ALIVE (1983) and RAW DEAL (1986). He was also a cinematographer on The Who's THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (1979). Wexler died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. at the age of 73.  Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay based on factual material or material not previously published or produced) 1970: JOE  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1973: SERPICO (w. Waldo Salt) 2 nominations