Mr. Gottlieb, who tended toward straight plays and gentle comedies, found particular success with scripts by foreign authors. His biggest hit was Same Time, Next Year, a comedy by Canadian author Bernard Slade about an adulterous couple (played by Charles Grodin and Ellen Burstyn) who meet once every year. It played 1,453 performances before it closed in 1978.

He also scored big with Sleuth, Anthony Shaffer's crafty thriller, which ran three years on Broadway in 1970 and claimed the Tony Award for Best Play. Frank Marcus' The Killing of Sister Georgie, starring Beryl Reid and a young Eileen Atkins, ran for 200 performances and was nominated for a 1967 Tony Award.

Mr. Gottlieb also had luck with the American comedy Enter Laughing, written by Joseph Stein, who based the play on a autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner; and the Gore Vidal drama The Best Man, about a presidential race.

He was loyal to certain authors. He also produced Slade's Tribute, with Jack Lemmon, Special Occasions and Romantic Comedy; and Faith Healer, The Mundy Scheme and Lover, all by Brian Friel.

Morton Edgar Gottlieb was born in Brooklyn on May 2, 1921, and graduated from Erasmus Hall High School. He studied drama at Yale. Entering the theatre, he moved from press agent to company manager to general manager. His first Broadway producing credit was 1954's His and Hers, by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin, staring Celeste Holm and Robert Preston. It closed after 76 performances. Mr. Gottlieb never married.