Mr. Buckley underwent triple bypass surgery at St. Luke's in late September. He remained at St. Luke's after complications ensued and had been expected to recover. The exact cause of his death was unknown at press time.

He took over the "Stage to Screens" column in 2005 and filed his most recent column on Sept. 8. In the features, he interviewed theatre artists about their various forays into film and television. The one-on-one interview was Mr. Buckley's forte. He was known for coming to his interviews well-prepared, often surprising actors with the amount of research he had done into their lives.

For 20 years, Mr. Buckley contributed to the pages of TV Guide. He was a feature writer for the theatre magazine "TheatreWeek," which published from the late 1980s until 1995. He also wrote for Show Business and Theatermania.

He was for several seasons a nominator for Drama Desk, the organization of theatre critics, editors and reporters.

Michael Buckley was born December 11, 1942, in Manhattan on West 92nd Street and still lived a few blocks from that address at the time of his death. Bearing none of the hard edges New Yorkers are famous for, he had a kind, almost courtly manner. His wife, Marie, was his childhood sweetheart; they met when he was 12.

He admired lyricists greatly, said Mr. Willison, and would pen unpublished lyrics in his spare time for the simple pleasure of the task, never getting them set to music.

He is survived by his wife, Marie, and their daughter, Rosemarie.