He was the son of Jewish immigrants, Irene (Sperling), a bank clerk, and Abraham Schisgal, a tailor.
He then studied at Long Island University in Brooklyn and later earned a Bachelors of Arts at The New School for Social Research in 1959.
[1] Schisgal won his first recognition for the 1963 off-Broadway double-bill The Typists and The Tiger, which received the Drama Desk Award.
Other credits include Jimmy Shine, 74 Georgia Avenue,[4] Naked Old Man and All Over Town, which received a Drama Desk nomination.
[citation needed] Schisgal also wrote The Love Song of Barney Kempinski, which was the first presentation of ABC Stage 67, and the screenplay for The Tiger Makes Out.