Dominic Orlando, a TV writer and playwright, died due to complications from cancer on Nov. 17, his family and CAA announced. He was 57.
Born in Brooklyn on Christmas Day in 1963, Orlando pursued the life of an artist from an early age. He began his career in New York theatre, where he co-founded the No Pants Theater Company in 1992, a company that aimed to explore large-scale mythological and spiritual stories of America. After New York, he relocated to Minneapolis where he co-founded the Workhaus Collective while on Jerome and McKnight Fellowships at the Playwrights’ Center. The mission of the company was to support the uncompromising vision of its authors. Over the years, Orlando wrote numerous plays and operas and taught theater.
Eventually, Orlando moved to Los Angeles, where he pursued a career in television and wrote for shows like the Amazon series “Them,” “Outer Range,” FX’s “Retreat,” “The OA” from Netflix, “Mindhunter” and “Nightflyers,” a series based on the work of George R. R. Martin.
Orlando’s family said that the writer died doing what he loved most, as he had prepared for the first day of a TV writers room just hours before his death. He is survived by his mother Lillian, brothers John and Steven and Steven’s wife Sara, a niece, nephews and cousins.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, Orlando’s family requests people consider donating to the Dominic Orlando Fund, created by friends and the Playwrights’ Center. The proceeds from the fund will be used to support writers who create their own unique path in the arts.