George S. Kaufman

George Simon Kaufman ( mostly George S. Kaufman, born November 16, 1889 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, † June 2, 1961 in New York City ) was an American stage and screenwriter.

Life

Kaufman began as a reporter and critic for the New York Times. Besides, he also tried his hand at books for plays. In 1918 he had with Someone in the House, which he co-wrote with Larry Evans and WC Percival, his debut on Broadway. From his second play Dulcy every year a piece that he had either written or produced there appeared 1921-1958 ( Romanoff and Juliet ). After his death, 1966-2003 another 16 plays were staged from his estate there.

Kaufman almost always wrote with other authors. Only the pieces The Butter and Egg Man ( 1925) and the musical Hollywood Pinafore (1945 ) came entirely from his pen. But the play The Butter and Egg Man was performed 245 times.

For the Marx Brothers, he wrote in collaboration with Morrie Ryskind the pieces The Cocoanuts (1925) and Animal Crackers (1928 ). For The Cocoanuts comes the music of Irving Berlin. He later told once that he hated it, as the four improvised on stage and abwandelten his texts and on. During a performance he should with the words " excuse. I have to go to the stage. I think I got there just a part of my sentences " once a call has ended.

In 1935, he went to Hollywood. Irving Thalberg had offered him $ 100,000, so he leaves New York City and the script for the Marx Brothers film scandal at the Opera delivers what he did.

In 1939 he wrote one more time for the Marx Brothers. Together with Morrie Ryskind, he wrote a total of two shows. For him, it was, as he later said, a lesson in writing comedies. With the first, the brothers went on tour and try it out. Every time a scene not so arrived as hoped, she flew from the play and was replaced by another. So this went on the entire tour. In the end he had Ryskind and then basically wrote a second piece, because the first was as good as anything available.

Together with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin, who contributed the lyrics, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the musical Of Thee I Sing 1931. The music for the political satire was by George Gershwin. In 1936 for You Only Live Once ( You Can not Take It with You, 1936), the second Pulitzer Prize added. This piece he had written with Moss Hart.

Besides the two Pulitzer Prizes in 1951 he received the Tony Award for Best Director for Guys and Dolls.

Works (selection)

  • Some One in the House ( 1918)
  • Dulcie ( 1921)
  • Merton of the Movies (1922 )
  • Beggar on Horseback (1924 )
  • The Butter and Egg Man (1925; German The Poulard, ca 1928)
  • The Cocoanuts (1925 )
  • The Royal Family (1927 )
  • Animal Crackers (1928 )
  • June Moon (1929 )
  • Once in a Lifetime ( 1930)
  • Of Thee I Sing ( 1931)
  • You Can not Take It with You (1936; dt You only live once, and later under the title Enjoy life, 1972)
  • Stage Door (1936 )
  • The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939 )
  • The Late George Apley (1944 )
  • The Solid Gold Cadillac (1953 )

Filmography (selection)

Screenplay

Based Upon

Direction

Playwright Broadway theatre Animal Crackers (film) Star Spangled Rhythm The Royal Family of Broadway First Lady (Film) Gregory La Cava Frank Capra William Keighley Integrated Authority File
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