Paul D. Zimmerman; Wrote ‘King of Comedy’ Film

Paul D. Zimmerman, 54, screenwriter and author who wrote the 1983 award-winning film “The King of Comedy.” Zimmerman spent more than a decade as a writer and critic for Newsweek, and then became a free-lance writer, contributing to several films and television shows, including “Sesame Street.” He also co-authored three books, the comprehensive anthology “The Marx Brothers at the Movies”; a tale of the 1969 World Series quest, “The Year the Mets Lost Last Place,” and a biography of the New York Knicks’ Dave DeBusschere, “The Open Man.” On Tuesday in Princeton, N.J., of cancer.