Horton Foote Dies

Playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, who movingly portrayed the broken dreams of common people in "The Trip to Bountiful," "Tender Mercies" and his Oscar-winning screen adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird," died Wednesday in Connecticut, Paul Marte, a spokesman for Hartford Stage, said. He was 92.

Foote died in his sleep in his apartment in Hartford where he was preparing work on "The Orphans' Home Cycle," a collection of nine plays, for next September at the nonprofit theater, Marte said.

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In the 1950s, Foote moved from the stage to the then-infant medium of television, writing weekly teleplays for NBC's "Television Playhouse." His first script for the prime-time anthology was "The Trip to Bountiful." Starring Lillian Gish, the March 1953 televised performance was later expanded into a three-act play for a two-month run on Broadway.

Foote had married Lillian Vallish, who became his producer, in 1945. She died in 1992.

Three of their four children pursued careers in acting and writing. A revival of "A Trip to Bountiful," staged in New York in 2005, featured daughter Hallie Foote as the daughter-in-law. Horton Foote Jr. also became an actor; Daisy Foote a playwright and screenwriter, and Walter Foote a lawyer.

Private funeral services will be held in Texas in the spring. A memorial service is also planned.

Rest In Peace, Horton.