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100-Year-Old Playwright Finally Catches His Big Break

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A senior is experiencing a dream come true at the age of 100.

The frustrated playwright finally has a play he wrote being produced on a New York City stage.

It's something he thought he'd never see. Paul Kane always dreamed of writing plays for a living, but his father discouraged him.

"You gotta get a job because writers starve in a little attic in Paris," Kane said.

The Philadelphia native wanted to avoid that fate, but he never stopped dreaming or writing. He wrote plays even after he moved to New York in 1959 to attend NYU, and during his 30 years as an English teacher working mostly in Brooklyn.

The Army veteran has called his rent-controlled, Greenwich Village apartment home since 1961. It's where he has written most of his recent work, including a play called "My Name is Sam." He completed it last year just after he turned 99.

Paul Kane "My Name is Sam" is playing at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre. (Photo: CBS2)

Kane said just like the artwork he creates to decorate his home, his writing helps to keep his mind sharp.

Apparently, it's working.

Read the rest of the story on CBSNewYork.com.

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