'Fiddler on the Roof' writer Joseph Stein, 98, dies in NY

NEW YORK — The playwright who turned a classic Yiddish short story into the hit Broadway musical "Fiddler on the Roof" and later wrote the screenplay for its successful movie adaptation has died in New York. Joseph Stein was 98. Stein's wife, Elisa Stein, said he died at a medical center in Manhattan on Sunday from complications of a fall. He had been hospitalized with prostate cancer. Stein won a Tony Award for his work on "Fiddler" and supplied the story for nearly a dozen other musicals, including "Zorba," ''Mr. Wonderful" and "Plain and Fancy." He also wrote for radio and for television during its early golden age. He worked for such performers as Henry Morgan, Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers. But it was "Fiddler" that proved to be his biggest hit. — AP