After a decade of acting in the theater, Michael Cristofer found fame, as well as won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for writing the 1977 Broadway play "The Shadow Box," a character piece about three terminally-ill patients. The play had its initial premiere in 1975 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Prior to its Broadway run, Cristofer had had a few plays produced, including the 1972 street theater piece "Americommedia," theater piece (1972), but Cristofer had primarily been concentrating on an acting career.