Meehan is the award-winning playwright and author most famous for adapting Annie, The Producers and Hairspray for Broadway.

Shortly after graduating from Hamilton College in the 1950s, Meehan landed a job writing humorous stories—like the now-classic short story "Yma Dream"—for the New Yorker, working under the tutelage of editor Roger Angell. In the early '70s Meehan began adapting other writers' material, turning the comic strip "Annie" into a hit 1977 Broadway musical and earning a Tony for his efforts. He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the scripts for several of the director's films, including 1983's To Be or Not to Be and the 1987 farce Spaceballs. Meehan also wrote banter for presenters at seven consecutive Tony awards shows, and teamed up with Brooks again for their hugely popular version of The Producers, another Tony winner. Initially starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and co-produced by Rocco Landesman and Richard Frankel Productions, The Producers was a stupendous hit during its six-year run. More recently, Meehan and Mark O'Donnell scored another success with the Tony-winning adaptation of John Waters' Hairspray. [Image via Getty]