On December 20, founder of L.A.'s Circle West theater company and member of the off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company in New York, playwright and screenwriter John Bishop passed away from cancer during his stay at a clinic in Bad Heilbrunn, Germany.

Marshall W. Mason, founding artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company is quoted as saying, "John was one of our major writers. I think next to Lanford Wilson, he was our most prominent writer; he wrote many plays for us. Bishop had a remarkable insight into the dark side of human nature, which he saw in both a comic and satiric way. All this served him very well when he came to Hollywood because of that sardonic view, and also he was very into action. He made a good screenwriter as a result."

Bishop's credits are many, both as a playwright and screenwriter. Plays produced on Broadway included The Trip Back Down, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Elmer Gantry, Borderlines, The Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler, Winter Signs and The Harvesting. He directed The Beaver Coat, El Salvador, Florida Crackers, and Empty Hearts. His screen credits included Drop Zone, The Package, Sliver and Beverly Hills Cops III. Described by the New Yorker as "one of our best dramatists," Bishop was 77.