Larry Gelbart

Larry Gelbart
Born	Larry Simon Gelbart February 25, 1928(1928-02-25) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2009 (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Francis Burns, Elsig
Occupation	Author, playwright
Years active	1944–2009
Spouse(s)	Patricia Marshall (1956–2009)

Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009)^[1] was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.

Biography

Early life

Gelbart was born in Chicago to Jewish immigrants Harry Gelbart ("a barber since his half of a childhood in Latvia")^[2] and Frieda Sturner, who migrated to America from Dombrowa, Poland.

Television

Gelbart began as a writer at the age of sixteen for Danny Thomas' radio show during the 1940s and also wrote for Jack Paar and Bob Hope. In the 1950s, he worked in television for Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, in Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as with writers Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Carl Reiner.

In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television series M*A*S*H, writing and producing many episodes until leaving after the fourth season. M*A*S*H earned Gelbart an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and went on to considerable commercial and critical success.

Films

Gelbart's best known screen work is perhaps the screenplay for 1982's Tootsie, which he co-wrote with Murray Schisgal. He was nominated for an Academy Award for that script, and also was Oscar-nominated for his original screenplay for 1977's Oh, God! starring George Burns.

He collaborated with Burt Shevelove on the screenplay for the 1966 British film The Wrong Box. Gelbart also wrote the golden-era film spoof Movie Movie (1978) starring George C. Scott in dual roles, the racy comedy Blame It on Rio (1984) starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore, and the 2000 remake of Bedazzled with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser.

His script for 1980's Rough Cut, a caper film starring Burt Reynolds and David Niven, was credited under the pseudonym Francis Burns.

Gelbart-scripted films for television included Barbarians at the Gate (1993), a true story about the battle for control of the RJR Nabisco corporation starring James Garner that was based on the best-selling book of that name; Weapons of Mass Destruction (1997) starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne as rival media moguls and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) starring Antonio Banderas as the Mexican revolutionary leader.

Broadway

Gelbart wrote the long-running Broadway musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim in 1962. The original production ran for 964 performances. Its book won a Tony Award. A film version starring Zero Mostel was released in 1966.

Gelbart's other Broadway credits include the musical City of Angels, which won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and an Edgar Award. He also wrote the Iran-contra satire Mastergate, as well as Sly Fox. In the early 1960s, he uttered the now-classic line, "If Hitler is alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical."

Memoirs

In 1997, Gelbart published his memoir, Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things.^[2]

Blogger

Gelbart was a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post, and also was a regular participant on the alt.tv.mash Usenet newsgroup as "Elsig".

Death

Gelbart was diagnosed with cancer in June and died at his Beverly Hills home on September 11, 2009. His wife of 53 years, Pat Gelbart, said that after being married for so long, "we finished each other's sentences." She declined to specify the type of cancer he had. ^[1][3]

References

External links

• Larry Gelbart at the Internet Broadway Database
• Larry Gelbart at the Internet Movie Database
• Larry Gelbart - Daily Telegraph obituary
• Abrogate-Larry Gelbart play, online @ BBC Radio 4
• Old Time Radio Researchers Database of People and Programs
• Larry Gelbart Archive of American Television Interview