Obituary

Shimon Wincelberg, 80, TV writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shimon Wincelberg, a television writer and Broadway playwright, died Wednesday after a long illness. He was 80.

Mr. Wincelberg wrote nearly 100 scripts for television series, including “Naked City,” “Mannix,” “Police Woman,” “Star Trek,” “Gunsmoke,” “Have Gun — Will Travel,” “Lost in Space” and, more recently, “Law & Order.”

He also wrote the 1959 Broadway play “Kataki,” which was inspired by his World War II service in the Army’s 27th Division, Combat Intelligence.

Mr. Wincelberg was born in Kiel, Germany. He started his career as a short-story writer for the New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar and Punch.

He was a mentor to many Orthodox Jews in Hollywood, his publicist said. He wrote a segment of “Have Gun — Will Travel” about a Jewish immigrant in the Old West.