George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889 - June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, director, producer, humorist, and drama critic noted for his many collaborations with other writers and his contributions to 20th century American comedy. He was born simply as George Kaufman & later added the middle initial "S." in simulation of his friend and mentor Franklin P. Adams. The attribution of the name Simon is unknowned, though his wife, Beatrice, used to refer to him as her "Squiggy." November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ...

Kaufman was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was called "The Great Collaborator" because he wrote very few plays alone. His most successful solo script was The Butter and Egg Man, 1925. As a collaborator, Kaufman was prolific: with Marc Connelly he wrote Merton of the Movies, Dulcy, and Beggar on Horseback; with Ring Lardner he wrote June Moon; with Edna Ferber he wrote The Royal Family, Dinner at Eight, and Stage Door; with John P. Marquand he wrote a stage adaptation of Marquand's novel The Late George Apley; and with Howard Teichmann he wrote The Solid Gold Cadillac. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Nickname: Steel City, Iron City, City of Champions, City of Bridges, City of Colleges Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Allegheny County Founded 1758 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area    - City 151. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Marc Connelly photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 Marcus Cook Connelly (December 13, 1890 - December 21, 1980) was a member of the Algonquin roundtable and composed several musicals with playwright George S. Kaufman: 1921 Dulcy 1922 Merton of the Movies 1925 Beggar on Horseback Categories: 1890 births | 1980 deaths ... This article is for minor characters that appear exclusively in the SatAM and Archie comics continuity. ... Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 - September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre. ... Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 - April 16, 1968), Jewish-American novelist, author, and playwright. ... A play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, The Royal Family lampooned the famous Barrymore family acting clan. ... Dinner at Eight is a 1932 Broadway play written George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. ... Stage Door is a 1937 film that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a single boarding house. ... John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 - July 16, 1960 ) was a 20th-century American novelist. ... Howard Teichman and George S. Kaufman pillory big business and big businessmen in this adaptation of their Broadway play. ...

Kaufman began his career as a journalist and drama critic. He was the drama editor for "The New York Times." His Broadway debut was in 1918 with the now-forgotten Some One in the House, written with Larry Evans and W. C. Percival. In every Broadway season from 1921 (Dulcy) through 1958 Romanoff and Juliet, there was a play written or directed by Kaufman. Since Kaufman's death, there have been 12 Broadway productions of Kaufman plays (either revivals or productions based on Kaufman properties, such as Merrily We Roll Along, adapted into a musical by Stephen Sondheim, George Furth, and Harold Prince.) This article is for minor characters that appear exclusively in the SatAM and Archie comics continuity. ... Merrily We Roll Along is a play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and a musical loosely based on it by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth. ... Stephen Joshua Sondheim (b. ... George Furth (b. ... Hal Prince (born January 30, 1928), full name Harold Smith Prince, is a theatre producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical (and less notably, dramatic) productions of the past half-century. ...

Kaufman and Hart

His most successful collaborations were with Moss Hart, with whom he wrote many plays, including Once in a Lifetime, You Can't Take It With You, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936, and The Man Who Came to Dinner, whose lead character was based on critic and wit Alexander Woollcott. "Once in a Lifetime" is the story of New Yorkers who leave vaudeville behind to strike it rich in Hollywood. In one of his few professional acting ventures, Kaufman starred as the dry-witted playwright Lawrence Vail. You Can't Take It With You presents a lovable family of eccentrics who quietly challenge the status quo with their quirky perspectives. In the situational comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner, a celebrity who may be the world's worst house guest breaks his hip and is forced to convalesce in small town Ohio. Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright and director of plays and musical theater. ... Once in a Lifetime is a song by Talking Heads, off their album Remain in Light. ... You Cant Take It with You is a 1938 Academy Award winning film directed by Frank Capra. ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Man Who Came to Dinner, comedy in three acts written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. ... Alexander Woollcott, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 - January 23, 1943) was a critic and commentator for The New Yorker magazine, and a member of the Algonquin Round Table. ... Once in a Lifetime is a song by Talking Heads, off their album Remain in Light. ... You Cant Take It with You is a 1938 Academy Award winning film directed by Frank Capra. ... The Man Who Came to Dinner, comedy in three acts written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. ...

All three of these scripts are written in three acts, featuring an Act II loaded with comedic complications, and a quieter Act III. These shows have large casts, plummy leading roles, and numerous supporting players. Though each play is intricately plotted, the scripts devote much attention to characterization and verbal wordplay. Part of Kaufman & Hart's success may be due to the American themes present in their work: the plays celebrate a certain sort of rugged individualism. In Kaufman & Hart, the boobs and the self-important are punctured while populists emerge triumphant.

These jjthree hits so solidified Kaufman's reputation as the writer of wise-cracking, carefully structured, commercial comedy, that the diversity and scope of his long career is often overlooked.

Words and music

Despite his claims that he knew nothing of music, and, in fact, hated it in the theatre, Kaufman collaborated on many musical projects. His most successful efforts include two Broadway shows crafted for the Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts, written with Irving Berlin and Animal Crackers, written with Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby. These two productions allowed the Marx Brothers to make the transition from their vaudeville roots into the more prominent worlds of "legitimate" musical comedy and film. Kaufman was one of the writers who excelled in writing intelligent nonsense for Groucho Marx -- a process that was inevitably collaborative, given Groucho's skills at expanding upon the scripted material. Though the Marx Brothers were notoriously critical of their writers, Groucho and Harpo Marx expressed admiration and gratitude towards Kaufman. Cover of sheet music for When My dreams Come True The Cocoanuts (1929) is the first released Marx Brothers film. ... Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989), born Israel Isidore Baline[1], in Tyumen, Russia (according to other sources[citation needed] possibly Mogilev, now Belarus), was an American composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters in history. ... Animal Crackers was a musical play with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. ... Morrie Ryskind (born Morris Ryskind 20 October 1895 in New York City, New York, USA - 24 August 1985 in Washington, DC), was a Jewish-American Hollywood and Broadway writer, lyricist, and director. ... Bert Kalmar (16 February 1884 - 18 September 1947) was a popular United States songwriter, born in New York City. ... Harry Ruby (October 29, 1895 – February 23, 1974) was an American songwriter and screenwriter. ... Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ... Adolph Arthur Marx, popularly known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville entertainers who later achieved fame as comedians in the Motion Picture industry. ...

Humor derived from political situations was of particular interest to Kaufman. He collaborated on two musical hits, Of Thee I Sing (Pulitzer Prize 1931 the very first musical so honored), and Let 'Em Eat Cake, and one troubled but eventually successful satire that had several incarnations, Strike Up the Band. Working with Kaufman on these ventures were Ryskind, George Gershwin, and Ira Gershwin. The humorous tone in these shows ranges from gentle observations ("the Vice President doesn't have a real job") to the caustic ("our country encourages war profiteering.") Of Thee I Sing is a musical set in the White House, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, to a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Let Em Eat Cake was a Broadway musical that opened October 21, 1933 at the Imperial Theatre, New York, USA and ran for 89 performances. ... George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer who wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother lyricist Ira Gershwin. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

This inveterate collaborator also contributed to historically important New York revues, including The Band Wagon (not to be confused with the Astaire/Minnelli 1953 film) with Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz. His often anthologized sketch "The Still Alarm" from the review The Little Show lasted long after this influential show closed. The Band Wagon is a musical comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953, which tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a Broadway play that will restart his career. ... Arthur Schwartz photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 - September 3, 1984) was an Jewish-American composer of popular music. ... Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 - July 30, 1983) was an American lyric writer and librettist. ...

Other credits

Kaufman skewered the film industry in his plays and prose pieces. Though many of his plays were adapted into (mostly unsuccessful) Hollywood films, he did only occasional work for Hollywood, most significantly as a writer of A Night at the Opera for the Marx Brothers. His only credit as a film director was in 1947 in The Senator Was Indiscreet starring William Powell. A Night At the Opera is a 1935 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. ...

On the boards, Kaufman directed the original productions of The Front Page by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and the Frank Loesser musical Guys and Dolls for which he won the 1951 Best Director Tony Award. Kaufman produced many of his own plays as well as those of other writers. The Front Page was a smash hit Broadway comedy written in 1928 by onetime Chicago, Illinois reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. ... Charles MacArthur (November 5, 1895 _ April 21, 1956) was an American playwright and screenwriter, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. ... Ben Hecht (February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was a prolific Hollywood screenwriter, even though he professed disdain for the motion picture industry. ... Of Mice and Men is a novella by John Steinbeck, first published in 1937, which tells the tragic story of George and Lennie, two displaced Anglo migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression (1929-1939). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Frank Loesser (June 29, 1910, New York City - July 26, 1969, New York City) was a composer and lyricist. ... Guys and Dolls is a successful 1950 musical. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ...

After World War II, perhaps because his output and commercial success as a writer was declining, Kaufman devoted more energy to directing, producing, writing prose, and appearing on television.

Celebrity

Kaufman was a key member of the celebrated Algonquin Round Table, a circle of witty writers and show business people. From the 1920's through the 1950's Kaufman was as well known for his personality as he was for his writing. The Moss Hart autobiography Act One certainly popularized Kaufman as a character. Hart portrayed Kaufman as a morose and intimidating figure, uncomfortable with any expressions of affection between human beings -- in life or on the page. This perspective, along with a number of taciturn observations made by Kaufman himself, led to a simplistic but commonly held belief that Hart was the emotional soul of the creative team while Kaufman was a misanthropic writer of punchlines. The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits that met from 1919 until about 1929, though its legacy endured long afterward. ...

Part of the commercial appeal of Kaufman's persona was derived from the fact that he, like Dorothy Parker, appeared to be a serious type of person, surrounded by effete or demonstrative celebrities like Woollcott, Franklin P. Adams, and Harpo Marx. Despite the fact that Kaufman lived in the public eye alongside celebrities and journalists, he was a tireless worker, dedicated to the writing and rehearsal processes. He was particularly revered within the business as a "play doctor." Late in his life he managed to trade upon his long-developed persona by appearing as a television wag. Dorothy Parker (August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American writer and poet, best known for her caustic wit, wisecracks, and sharp eye for 20th century urban foibles. ... Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 - March 23, 1960), was an American columnist (under the pen name F.P.A.), writer, and wit, part of the famous Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s and 1930s. ... Adolph Arthur Marx, popularly known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville entertainers who later achieved fame as comedians in the Motion Picture industry. ...

Of one unsuccessful comedy he wrote, "There was laughter at the back of the theatre, leading to the belief that someone was telling jokes back there." Even though he was a sometime satirist, he remarked that "Satire is what closes on Saturday night." Much of Kaufman's fame occurred due to his mastery of sharp lines such as these, generally referred to in the press as "wise cracks." However, Kaufman was more than a writer of gags. He created scripts that revealed a mastery of dramatic structure; his characters were likable and theatrically credible.

A noted (but married) ladies' man, Kaufman found himself in the center of a scandal in 1936 when, in the midst of a child custody suit, the former husband of actress Mary Astor threatened to publish one of Astor's diaries purportedly containing extremely explicit details of an affair between Kaufman and the actress. The diary was eventually destroyed unread by the courts, but details of the supposed contents were published in Confidential magazine and various other scandal sheets. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mary Astor (May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...

Kaufman later had a long affair with actress Natalie Schafer. Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 - April 10, 1991) was an American actress. ...

Legacy

Kaufman was a pivotal figure in the development of theatrical writing in the 20th century, working with collaborators who were rooted in vaudeville, in musical comedy, in film, in journalism, in prose fiction, in television, in revue, and in the commercial Broadway theatre. Despite his many collaborators, Kaufman's opus has a characteristic voice and tone. His character-driven style of comic dialogue has had lasting influences on theatrical writing in many genres. He also helped set the regulation of popular culture by using his utter influence to refuse seating to customers after the opening curtain. Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ...

He was preceded in death by his wife, Beatrice (6 October 1945). He married actress Leueen MacGrath 26 May 1949 with whom he collaborated on a number of plays, even following their divorce. He was survived by his adopted daughter, Anne Kaufman Schneider, and granddaughter, Beatrice "Betsy" Colen.

He died 2 June New York City in 1961 at the age of seventy-one. Nickname: Big Apple, City that never Sleeps Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ...

Bibliography

• Kaufman & Co.: Broadway Comedies, Laurence Maslon, ed. (New York: The Library of America, 2004) ISBN 1-931082-67-7. Includes The Royal Family (1927, with Edna Ferber); Animal Crackers (1928, with Morrie Ryskind); June Moon (1929, with Ring Lardner); Once in a Lifetime (1930, with Moss Hart); Of Thee I Sing (1931, with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin); You Can't Take it With You (1936, with Moss Hart); Dinner at Eight (1932, with Edna Ferber); Stage Door (1936, with Edna Ferber); The Man Who Came To Dinner (1939, with Moss Hart).

External links

• Algonquin Round Table Walking Tours
• Algonquin Round Table page at the Algonquin Hotel's web site
• Algonquin Circle Links