Abe Burrows on Match Game

Abe Burrows (December 18, 1910 – May 17, 1985), was a noted American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage, particularly Broadway. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Match Game was an American television game show, most often hosted by Gene Rayburn. ... is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... The Lion King at the New Amsterdam Theatre, 2003 Broadway theatre[1] is the most prestigious form of professional theatre in the U.S., as well as the most well known to the general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. ...

He was born Abram Solman Borowitz in New York City, graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn and attended both City College and New York University. He began working as a runner on Wall Street runner while at NYU, and he also worked in an accounting firm. After he met Frank Galen in 1938, the two wrote and sold jokes to an impressionist who appeared on the Rudy Vallée radio program. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Rudy Vallee (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. ...

His radio career gained strength when he collaborated with Ed Gardner, the writer and star of radio legend Duffy's Tavern. The two created the successful series after Gardner's character, Archie, premiered on the earlier radio program, This Is New York. Burrows was made the show's head writer in 1941, and he credited the experience with investing the Runyonesque street characters he fashioned for Guys and Dolls. "The people on that show," Burrows once said about Duffy's Tavern, "were New York mugs, nice mugs, sweet mugs, and like (Damon) Runyon's mugs they all talked like ladies and gentlemen. That's how we treated the characters in Guys and Dolls." Ed Gardner - American Actor Married Shirley Booth in 1929 and the two were divorced in 1942. ... 1945 film adaptation of Duffys Tavern Duffys Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of... Guys and Dolls Original Broadway Cast recording (1950) Guys And Dolls is a hit 1950 musical, with the music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser. ... Damon Runyon Damon Runyon (October 4, 1884 – December 10, 1946) was a newspaperman and writer. ...

Burrows also wrote for Danny Kaye's short-lived mid-1940s radio comedy show, helping head writer Goodman Ace fashion material for Kaye and co-stars Eve Arden and Lionel Stander. He quit Duffy's Tavern in 1945 to work at Paramount Pictures. but he soon returned to radio. Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ... A word out of place will spoil the whole joke: Humourist Goodman Ace, from the inside jacket flap of his 1970 collection of scripts from his classic radio show, Ladies and Gentlemen-Easy Aces. ... Eve Arden (April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy--winning American actress, who established a lengthy career as a supporting and character actor but was best remembered for playing a sardonically engaging high school teacher in the radio and television classic Our Miss Brooks. ... Lionel Stander & Freeway Lionel Jay Stander (January 11, 1908 – November 30, 1994) was an American character actor in movies, radio, theater and television. ...

Meanwhile, he became a popular guest on the Hollywood party circuit, performing his own satirical songs ("Darling Why Shouldn't You Look Well Fed, ‘ Cause You Ate Up a Hunka My Heart?" and "The Girl with the Three Blue Eyes"). Such informal performances led to a nightclub act and regular appearances as a performer on CBS radio programs, eventually hosting his own radio program, The Abe Burrows Show (CBS) in 1948, a 15-minute weekly comedy Burrows wrote and directed as well. As he recalled years later, his show came about while he was scripting a radio show for Joan Davis when George Jessel asked him, "When the hell are you gonna become a professional?" Burrows continued as Davis's head writer while doing his own show. Radio broadcasts have been a popular entertainment since the 1910s, though popularity has declined a little in some countries since television became widespread. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... Joan Davis (b. ... Sir George Jessel - English Jurist George Jessel (actor) - American actor This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Mixing comic patter ("I guess I could tell you exactly what I look like, but I think that's a lousy thing to say about a guy") with his clever comic songs, The Abe Burrows Show was popular with listeners and critics but not with its sponsor, Lambert Pharmaceutical, then the makers of Listerine mouthwash but promoting a Listerine toothpaste on the show. Lambert, according to Burrows, complained that the show wasn't selling much of the toothpaste. "It seems that my fans were being naughty," he wrote. "While they were laughing at my jokes, they were sneering at my toothpaste." This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Modern toothpaste gel Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used to clean and improve the aesthetic appearance and health of teeth. ...

From radio to Broadway

Both shows originated from CBS's Los Angeles affiliate, KNX, whose program director Ernie Martin encouraged Burrows---who had done some film work---to think about writing plays. "I told him I felt my funny stuff was okay for radio, but I didn't think people would pay theater prices to hear it," Burrows recalled. Eventually, however, Burrows wrote, doctored, or directed such shows as Make a Wish, Two on the Aisle, Three Wishes for Jamie, Say, Darling, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Cactus Flower, Can-Can, Silk Stockings, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Good News (1974 revival), and many others. With his collaborator Frank Loesser, Burrows won a Pulitzer Prize for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... KNX is a Los Angeles, California, clear channel radio station operating on 1070 kHz with 50,000 watts of power from a transmitter site in Torrance, and a key West Coast station for the CBS Radio Network. ... Make-A-Wish Foundation logo The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. ... Two on the Aisle is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. ... Three Wishes for Jamie is a musical with a book by Charles ONeal and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Ralph Blane. ... Say, Darling is a musical with a book by Abe Burrows and Marian and Richard Bissell, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Jule Styne. ... How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 musical, initially running for 1,417 performances. ... Rare Broadway poster including the name of Joseph Campanella, who was replaced by Barry Nelson before opening night Cactus Flower is a farce by Abe Burrows. ... Can-Can is a 1953 musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, with a book by Abe Burrows. ... Silk Stockings was a 1954 musical composed by Cole Porter, based upon Ninotchka. ... For other uses of Breakfast at Tiffanys, see Breakfast at Tiffanys (disambiguation). ... Good News is a musical comedy which opened on Broadway in 1927, set on the campus of the fictional Tait College. The book was by Buddy DeSylva and Laurence Schwab, lyrics by DeSylva and Lew Brown, and music by Ray Henderson. ... Image:FrankLoesser1. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...

Burrows also became a famous script doctor, enough so that the desperate call of a producer, "Get me Abe Burrows!", remained Broadway shorthand for a script that needs repair for many years. Yet Burrows himself downplayed that role in his memoir, while discussing his fixing of Make a Wish:

I have... performed surgery on a few shows, but not as many as I'm given credit for. I've been involved in 19 theatrical productions, plus their road company offshoots. Only a few of these have been surgical patients. And I don't usually talk about them. I feel that a fellow who doctors a show should have the same ethical approcah that a plastic surgeon has. It wouldn't be very nice if a plastic surgeon were walking down the street with you, and a beautiful girl approached. And you say, "What a beautiful girl." And the plastic surgeon says, "She was a patient of mine. You should have seen her before I fixed her nose." Doctoring seldom cures a show. The sickness usually starts at the moment the author puts the first sheet of paper in his typewriter. All the redirecting and recasting can never help much if the basic story is wrong.

Films and television

Burrows also wrote the screenplay for the 1956 film, The Solid Gold Cadillac, as well as producing a pair of television series, Abe Burrows' Almanac (1950) and The Big Party (1959). Howard Teichman and George S. Kaufman pillory big business and big businessmen in this adaptation of their Broadway play. ...

Twice married and the father of one son and a daughter, Burrows's son, James Burrows, became an influential television director whose credits have included The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Cheers -- the latter a show the younger Burrows helped create as well, a show whose setting of a neighborhood bar populated with quirky locals was a direct descendant of the radio show that helped launch his father's distinguished career. James Burrows is a prolific Jewish-American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Mary Tyler Moore is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977. ... Cheers is a popular American situation comedy produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with CBS Paramount Television for NBC. Cheers was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. ...

Print

In 1980, Burrows published his memoir, Honest, Abe: Is There Really No Business Like Show Business?, in which he recalled the meat of his career, including his mentoring of several comedy writers including future M*A*S*H writer Larry Gelbart (who was once a Duffy's Tavern writer), Nat Hiken, Dick Martin and Woody Allen, the latter a distant cousin of Burrows's. He died after a battle against Alzheimer's disease in 1985. M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, inspired by the 1968 novel M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker (penname for H. Richard Hornberger) and its sequels, but primarily by the 1970 film MASH, and influenced by the... Larry Gelbart (b. ... Nat Hiken (June 13, 1924 - December 7, 1968) was a pioneering American TV writer, producer, and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1950s. ... Dick Martin (born January 30, 1922 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American comedian. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Königsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ...

References

• Burrows, Abe. Honest Abe: Is There Really No Business Like Show Business? Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1980. ISBN 0-3161-1771-4
• Sies, Luther F. Encyclopedia of American radio 1920-1960. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0452-3

Listen to

• Duffy's Tavern: "Leave Us Face It" (14 December 1943) with guest star: Dinah Shore
• The Abe Burrows Show, four surviving episodes

External links

• Internet Broadway Databasezzz; Abe Burrows
• New York Public Library: Abe Burrows Collection
• Abe Burrows collection of sound recordings, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts