Fiddler's Fierstein Developing a TV Sitcom

By Andrew Gans
December 6, 2005

Harvey Fierstein, who won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, is currently developing a television sitcom for the Fox Network.

The New York Times reports that Fierstein and writer David Richardson are working on a situation comedy that will cast the current star of Fiddler on the Roof as a blue-collar mother. Richardson told the New York daily, "It will be 'Roseanne'-ish in nature, a real woman raising two kids. There won't be any winking at the camera, no double-entendre jokes."

Harvey Fierstein won two 1983 Tony Awards — Best Actor in a Play and Best Play — for his groundbreaking opus Torch Song Trilogy. He also won a Best Book of a Musical Tony in 1984 for Jerry Herman’s La Cage aux Folles, and a Best Actor in a Musical Tony for Hairspray. Fierstein’s other plays include Safe Sex, Spookhouse and Forget Him. His film credits include “Independence Day,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “The Times of Harvey Milk” and “Torch Song Trilogy.” He wrote and starred in HBO’s “Tidy Endings,” which brought him an ACE Award. Fierstein also published the children’s book “The Sissy Duckling."

After he concludes his run as Tevye in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof on Jan. 8, 2006, Fierstein is scheduled to reprise his role as Edna in the upcoming Las Vegas mounting of Hairspray. Fierstein will play a 12-week stint in the Vegas production in 2006.