'Mindhunter' and 'Nightflyers' fame writer Dominic Orlando passes away at 57

Dominic Orlando, a prolific playwright on the Off-Broadway and regional theatre scenes, breathed his last due to complications from cancer on November 17 in Washington DC, reported Deadline. He was 57. The TV writer's death was announced by his family and CAA. Orlando recently pivoted to television series as Amazon Prime's Them and Netflix's originals Mindhunter and The OA.

Dominic Orlando passes away at 57

Born in Brooklyn on Christmas Day in the year 1963, Orlando pursued the life of an artist from an early age. He began his career in New York's downtown theatres during the early 1990s before relocating to continue writing plays in Minneapolis. In New York, Orlando co-founded the No Pants Theater Company in 1992, which aimed to explore large-scale mythological and spiritual stories of America.

While on Jerome and McKnight Fellowships at Minneapolis' Playwrights'Center, the late writer co-founded another theatre company, the Workhaus Collective, where he wrote and helmed plays including A Short Play About Globalization (2007), The Sense of What Should Be (2009), and A Short Play About 9/11 (2011). Over the years, Orlando wrote numerous plays and operas and taught theatre.

Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles and pursued a career in television. He wrote for numerous shows like the Amazon series Them, Outer Range, FX’s Retreat, The OA from Netflix, Mindhunter, and Nightflyers, which is a series based on the work of George RR. Martin. Orlando had received two WGA Award nominations, first in the year 2016 for The OA episode Mirror Mirror and in 2020 for Mindhunter.

According to Deadline, Orlando's family members said that he passed away doing what he loved most, as he prepared for the first day of a TV writer's room only a few hours before his death. The late writer is survived by his mother, Lillian, his brothers- John and Steven; Steven’s wife Sara, a niece, nephews, and cousins. 

As per a report by Variety, in lieu of flowers or gifts, the writer's family has requested people to consider donating to the Dominic Orlando Fund, which is created by friends and the Playwrights' Center. The fund received will be used to support writers who create their own unique paths in the arts.

(Image: @pwcenter/Instagram)