S. Wincelberg, 80; Playwright Also Wrote TV Scripts

Shimon Wincelberg, 80, a television writer and Broadway playwright, died at a Los Angeles nursing home Wednesday after a long illness, said publicist Fred Stuart.

Wincelberg wrote nearly 100 scripts for television series that included “Naked City,” “Mannix,” “Police Woman,” “Star Trek,” “Gunsmoke,” “Have Gun, Will Travel,” “Lost in Space” and, more recently, “Law & Order.”

He also wrote the 1959 Broadway play “Kataki,” which was inspired by his World War II service in combat intelligence in the Army’s 27th Division. His 1962 play “Windows of Heaven” made its world premiere at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theater.

Wincelberg, born in Kiel, Germany, started his career as a short story writer for the New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar.