His plays tended to portray social outcasts with dark secrets spontaneously revealed in moments of great anxiety.
[6] In 1968, La MaMa's Ellen Stewart collaborated with actor/producer Leslie Irons to open Corner Theatre ETC in Baltimore.
[7] The Raven Rock was directed and produced by Wes Jensby at Nassau Community College before traveling to University at Albany, SUNY and then La MaMa in 1969.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for Mario Monicelli's Lady Liberty, a 1972 film starring William Devane and Sophia Loren.
Melfi struggled with alcohol for many years, and eventually moved into the single room occupancy Narragansett Hotel at Broadway and 93rd Street.
The following day, paramedics arrived at the hotel and transported Melfi to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died four hours later of congestive heart failure.
After weeks of working through bureaucracy, his brother John had Leonard's body exhumed and brought to Campbell Funeral Home.