Known for his extensive work in the American theatre in both plays and musicals, he has received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award.
He attended and graduated from Highland Park High School, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where he excelled in the theater department and was President of the Thespian Club in 1981.
Quills garnered the 1995 Joseph Kesselring Prize for Best New American Play from the National Arts Club and, for Wright, a 1996 Village Voice Obie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting.
[2] In 2000, Wright wrote the screenplay for the film version of Quills which was directed by Philip Kaufman and starred Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, and Michael Caine.
[3] The production earned positive reviews[4] with Variety film critic Todd McCarthy writing, "Kaufman‘s intelligently boisterous screen version of Doug Wright‘s successful play...maintains a sharp focus on the notorious writer’s compulsive creativity" adding, "Wright’s script is at its best when centered on the Marquis".
[8] Wright returned to Broadway in 2006, writing the book for Grey Gardens, starring Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson.
In another La Jolla commission, he wrote the book for the musical Hands on a Hardbody, with the score by Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio.
War Paint premiered at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, from June 28 to August 14, 2016, with stars Patti LuPone as Helena Rubinstein and Christine Ebersole as Elizabeth Arden.
He wrote screenplay for the upcoming courtroom drama The Burial (2023) directed by Maggie Betts starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones.