‘Blazing Saddles’ screenwriter Norman Steinberg dead at 83

nypost.com:

Deadline reported Wednesday that Steinberg’s family said he died March 15, but did not provide further details.The Post has contacted a rep for Steinberg for comment. “It’s a sad day when Norman Steinberg leaves us.

From BLAZING SADDLES to MY FAVORITE YEAR, he was one of the best writers I ever worked with,” Brooks, 96, tweeted Wednesday. “I’m so glad I rescued him from a dull stable legal career, because he always permeated the writers room with his infectious comic spirit,” he added.

Born in Brooklyn on June 6, 1939, Steinberg was working as a lawyer when he met Brooks in the 1960s at a Manhattan coffee shop, Deadline reported.Brooks convinced him to quit his day job, and he moved to LA to write.Steinberg was one of the writers to win an Emmy in 1971 for NBC’s comedy-variety series “The Flip Wilson Show.”Brooks hired him and dentist-turned-writer Alan Uger to pen the script for what would become “Blazing Saddles.”The comedy was one of the hits of 1974, grossing $119.5 million at the domestic box office.Steinberg’s other writing credits include “Yes, Giorgio” (1982), “My Favorite Year” (1982), the Michael Keaton comedy “Johnny Dangerously” (1984), “Wise Guys” (1986), and “Funny About Love” (1990).

He also worked on the TV projects “Cosby” and “Paradise” and created “Doctor Doctor,” a CBS sitcom that ran from 1989 to 1991.