Douglas Watt (critic) and Tennessee Williams. During his career at the Daily News, he was able to attend the 1949 debut of "Death of a Salesman" starring Lee J. Cobb in the title role of Willy Loman, as well as the 50th-anniversary production of the play with Brian Dennehy in the lead. One of the founders of the Drama Desk Awards, Watt served on the nominating committee for both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Awards. Watt died at age 95 on September 29, 2009, in Southampton, New York because of pneumonia. At the time of his death, he resided in
Willy Loman rope". Lowry described the production as depicting "the end of a man when his dream world is shattered". Creator Arthur Miller described the role as one for a large character in a small physical body and noted he had difficulty finding the right actor at first. The part was originally written for a physically small man with Willy at one point saying to his wife "I'm short. I'm very foolish to look at." When Cobb was cast, the line was changed to "I'm fat. I'm very foolish to look at," and a reference to Willy being called a "shrimp" was