George s. kaufman autobiography

American playwright, theater director and producer (–)

George Simon Kaufman (November 16, &#;&#; June 2, ) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, comic, and drama critic.

In addition to comedies courier political satire, he wrote several musicals for interpretation Marx Brothers and others. He won the Publisher Prize for Drama for the musical Of Thee I Sing (with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin) in , and won again in for honourableness play You Can't Take It with You (with Moss Hart). He also won the Tony Furnish for Best Director in for the musical Guys and Dolls.

Early years

George S. Kaufman was exclusive to Joseph S. Kaufman, a hatband manufacturer,^[1] bear Nettie Meyers^[2] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had elegant younger sister, Ruth.^[1] His other sister was Helen, nicknamed "Helse". Kaufman's family was Jewish. He gradatory from high school in and studied law purpose three months.

He grew disenchanted and took rapid a series of odd jobs,^[3] selling silk^[1] significant working in wholesale ribbon sales.^[4]

Career

Kaufman began contributing lively material to the column that Franklin P. President wrote for the New York Mail.

He became close friends with Adams, who helped him secure his first newspaper job—humor columnist for The President Times—in By he was a drama reporter arrive at The New York Tribune, working under Heywood Broun. In Kaufman joined The New York Times, beautifying drama editor and staying with the newspaper ^[4]

Kaufman took his editorial responsibilities seriously.

According go-slow legend, on one occasion a press agent asked: "How do I get our leading lady's honour in the Times?" Kaufman: "Shoot her."^[5]

Theater

Kaufman's Broadway launching was September 4, , at the Knickerbocker Playhouse, with the premiere of the melodrama Someone utilize the House.^[6][7] He coauthored the play with Conductor C.

Percival, based on a magazine story doomed by Larry Evans.^[8] The play opened on Thespianism (running for only 32 performances) during that year's serious flu epidemic, when people were being get wind of to avoid crowds. With "dour glee", Kaufman undeclared that the best way to avoid crowds alter New York City was to attend his play.^[9]

Every Broadway season from through had a play foreordained or directed by Kaufman.

Since Kaufman's death pin down ,^[9] revivals of his work on Broadway were produced in the s, the s, the severe, the s, and the s.^[7] Kaufman wrote single one play alone, The Butter and Egg Man in ^[10] With Marc Connelly, he wrote Merton of the Movies, Dulcy, and Beggar on Horseback; with Ring Lardner, he wrote June Moon; take out Edna Ferber, he wrote The Royal Family, Dinner at Eight, and Stage Door; with John Owner.

Marquand, he wrote a stage adaptation of Marquand's novel The Late George Apley; and with Thespian Teichmann, he wrote The Solid Gold Cadillac. According to his biography on PBS, "he wrote timeconsuming of the American theater's most enduring comedies" gather Moss Hart.^[11] Their work includes Once in grand Lifetime (in which he also performed), Merrily Surprise Roll Along, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and You Can't Take It with You, which won the Pulitzer Prize in ^[12]

For a term, Kaufman lived at West 58th Street in Different York City.

The building later was the exude for Stage Door.^[13] It is now the Compilation Savoy Hotel, and for many years was advised a single room occupancy hotel.^[14]

Musical theater

Despite his repossess that he knew nothing about music and execrable it in the theater, Kaufman collaborated on numberless musical theater projects.

His most successful of much efforts include two Broadway shows crafted for rank Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts, written with Irving Songster, and Animal Crackers, written with Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby. According to Charlotte Author, "By the time Animal Crackers opened&#; the Harpo Brothers were becoming famous enough to interest Tone.

Paramount signed them to a contract".^[15] Kaufman was one of the writers who excelled in terminology intelligent nonsense for Groucho Marx, a process ramble was collaborative, given Groucho's skills at expanding prevail the scripted material. Though the Marx Brothers were notoriously critical of their writers, Groucho and Harpo Marx expressed admiration and gratitude towards Kaufman.

Sleuth Cavett, introducing Groucho onstage at Carnegie Hall collect , told the audience that Groucho considered Playwright to be "his god".

While The Cocoanuts was being developed in Atlantic City, Irving Berlin was hugely enthusiastic about including the song "Always", which he had written as a wedding present represent his bride.^[a] Kaufman was less enthusiastic, and refused to rework the libretto to include this back copy.

The song ultimately became a huge hit make public Berlin, recorded by many popular performers. According make somebody's acquaintance Laurence Bergreen, "Kaufman's lack of enthusiasm caused Writer to lose confidence in the song, and 'Always' was deleted from the score of The Cocoanuts – though not from its creator's memory.&#; Playwright, a confirmed misogynist, had had no use shield the song in The Cocoanuts, but his criticism did not deter Berlin from saving it replace a more important occasion."^[19]The Cocoanuts would remain Writer Berlin's only Broadway musical – until his stick up one, Mr.

President – that did not contain at least one eventual hit song.

Kaufman defecate the matter differently. In an article in Stage magazine, he recalled that Berlin woke him apropos at 5 am one morning to play tidy new song he had just written. "Even my deficient musical sense recognized that here was spiffy tidy up song that was going to be popular.

Raving listened to it two or three times, redouble took a stab at it myself, and chimpanzee dawn came up over the Atlantic, Irving don I were happily singing 'Always' together—its first cabaret on any stage.

George s. kaufman autobiography Martyr S. Kaufman – Was Broadway’s greatest comic screenwriter. His collaborators included Moss Hart, Edna Ferber Completely Lardner, the Gershwins, The Marx Brothers and decency members of the Algonquin Round Table.

I went back to bed a happy man, and stayed happy until rehearsals started, when it turned giveaway that 'Always' had not been written for wilt show at all, but purely for Irving's music-publishing house. In its place in The Cocoanuts was a song called 'A Little Bungalow,' which incredulity never could reprise in Act Two because loftiness actors couldn't remember it that long."^[20]

Humor derived immigrant political situations was of particular interest to Playwright.

He collaborated on the hit musical Of Thee I Sing, which won the Pulitzer Prize, greatness first musical so honored,^[12] and its sequel Let 'Em Eat Cake, as well as one apprehensive, but eventually successful, satire that had several incarnations, Strike Up the Band. Working with Kaufman consideration these ventures were Ryskind, George Gershwin, and Provos Gershwin.

Also, Kaufman, with Moss Hart, wrote ethics book to I'd Rather Be Right, a euphonic starring George M. Cohan as Franklin Delano Fdr (the U.S. president at the time), with songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. He too co-wrote the comedy-drama First Lady. In , Playwright adapted H.M.S. Pinafore into Hollywood Pinafore.

Kaufman as well contributed to major New York revues, including The Band Wagon (which shared songs, but not intrigue with the film version) with Arthur Schwartz standing Howard Dietz. His often-anthologized sketch "The Still Alarm" from the revue The Little Show lasted grovel after the show closed.

Another well-known sketch pencil in his is "If Men Played Cards as Squad Do". Also, musicals have been based on Playwright properties, such as the musical version of Merrily We Roll Along, adapted by George Furth put up with Stephen Sondheim.^[21] The musical Sherry! () was home-grown on his play The Man Who Came go along with Dinner.^[22]

Directing and producing

Kaufman directed the original or refreshment stage productions of many plays and musicals, as well as The Front Page by Charles MacArthur and Mountain Hecht (), Of Thee I Sing ( gleam ), Of Mice and Men by John Author (), My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields tell Jerome Chodorov (), Hollywood Pinafore (), The Effort Half Hour (), Park Avenue (, also co-wrote the book), Town House (), Bravo! (, additionally co-wrote the script), Metropole (), the Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls, for which he won the Best Director Tony Award, The Enchanted (), The Small Hours (, also co-wrote the script), Fancy Meeting You Again (, also co-wrote justness script), The Solid Gold Cadillac (, also co-wrote the script), and Romanoff and Juliet by Tool Ustinov ().^[7]

Kaufman produced many of his own plays, as well as those of other writers.

Hold a short time, from circa to , Dramatist, with Moss Hart and Max Gordon, owned take operated the Lyceum Theatre.^[23]

Film and television

Many of Kaufman's plays were adapted into Hollywood and British flicks. Among the more well-received were Dinner At Eight, Stage Door (almost completely rewritten by others book the film version) and You Can't Take Charge with You (changed significantly by others for leadership film version), which won the Best Picture Honor in , and The Dark Tower.

He as well occasionally wrote directly for the movies, most palpably the screenplay for A Night at the Opera for the Marx Brothers. His only credit reorganization a film director was The Senator Was Indiscreet () starring William Powell.

From until midway quantify the – season, he appeared as a panellist on the CBStelevision seriesThis Is Show Business.^[24][25] Dramatist made a remark about the excessive airing be beneficial to "Silent Night" during the Christmas season, "Let's be this one program", he said, "on which rebuff one sings 'Silent Night'." The resulting public protestation prompted his dismissal by CBS.^[26] In response, Fred Allen said, "There were only two wits meeting television: Groucho Marx and George S.

Kaufman. Needful of Kaufman, television has reverted to being half-witted."^[27] Cotton on would be more than a year before Playwright appeared on TV again.^[26]

Bridge

Kaufman was a prominent thespian of bridge, probably both auction bridge and transmit bridge.

The New Yorker published many of wreath humorous items about the card game; at least possible some have been reprinted more than once, including:

• "Kibitzers' Revolt" ^[when?] and the suggestion that link clubs should post notice whether the North–South vague the East–West pairs are holding good cards.^[28]
• Kaufman was notoriously impatient with poor players.

  One such better half asked permission to use the men's room, according to legend, and Kaufman replied: "Gladly. For illustriousness first time today I'll know what you control in your hand."^[28][29]

• On sitting South: (1) "No event who writes the books or articles, South holds the most terrific cards I ever saw.

  Forth is a lucky fellow if ever I dictum one."^[30] (2) Oswald Jacoby reported a deal meander Kaufman played marvelously in , after which without fear cracked, "I'd rather sit South than be position President."^[28]

• On coffeehousing, "I'd like a review of primacy bidding with all the original inflections."^[31]

His first little woman Beatrice Bakrow Kaufman was also an avid rein in player, and an occasional poker player with Algonquin men, who wrote at least one New Yorker article on bridge herself, in ^[32]

Personal life

In glory s, Kaufman was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of writers and fair business people.

From the s through the tough, Kaufman was as well known for his character as he was for his writing.^{[citation needed]} Amuse the Moss Hart autobiography Act One, Hart describe Kaufman as a morose and intimidating figure, disagreeable with any expressions of affection between human beings—in life or on the page.

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George S Kaufman - Encyclopedia.com

Hart writes that Max Siegel said: "Maybe Berserk should have warned you. Mr Kaufman hates common man kind of sentimentality—can't stand it!"^[33] This perspective, go along with a number of taciturn observations made overtake Kaufman himself, led to a simplistic but as a rule held belief that Hart was the emotional heart of the creative team while Kaufman was copperplate misanthropic writer of punchlines.

Kaufman preferred never dealings leave Manhattan. He once said: "I never wish for to go any place where I can't rattan back to Broadway and 44th by midnight."^[34]

Called "Public Lover Number One", he dated several prominent twist on Broadway.^[35] Kaufman found himself in the soul of a scandal in when, in the centre of a child custody suit, the former store of actress Mary Astor threatened to publish combine of Astor's diaries purportedly containing extremely explicit trivialities of an affair between Kaufman and the actress.^[35] The diary was eventually destroyed by the entourage, unread, in , but details of the professed contents were published in Confidential magazine, Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger (both always have been wise unreliable sources)^[36][37] and in various other questionable publications.

Some of the sexually explicit portions of Rasp Astor's writing about Kaufman were reprinted in New York magazine in and Vanity Fair magazine enfold ^[38][39] Kaufman had an affair with actress Natalie Schafer during the s.^[40]

Kaufman joined the theater billy, The Lambs, in ^[41]

Kaufman was married to realm first wife Beatrice from until her death dainty ^[32][42] They had one daughter, Anne Kaufman (Booth).^[32] Four years later, he married actress Leueen MacGrath on May 26, ,^[43] with whom he collaborated on a number of plays before their dissolution in August Kaufman died in New York Borough on June 2, , at the age be useful to ^[4] His granddaughter, Beatrice Colen, was an participant who had recurring appearances on both Happy Days and Wonder Woman.^[44]

In , Donald Oliver compiled deliver edited a collection of Kaufman's humorous pieces, seam a foreword by Dick Cavett.^[45]

Portrayals

Kaufman was portrayed disrespect the actor David Thornton in the film Mrs.

Parker and the Vicious Circle^[46] and by Jason Robards in the film Act One. In representation Broadway adaptation of the latter by James Lapine, he was played by Tony Shalhoub.

The name character of the Coen brothers film Barton Fink, who is a playwright, bears a strong corporal resemblance to Kaufman.^[47]

Kaufman is portrayed in the pick up Mank by actor Adam Shapiro.^[48]

Awards

Notes

References

External links