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George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1982, the National Medal of Arts in 1990, and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Starting as an actor he later became known for producing numerous Broadway productions such as Pal Joey (1940), On the Town (1944), Call Me Madam (1950), Wonderful Town (1953), The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), New Girl in Town (1957), Once Upon a Mattress (1959), Fiorello! (book, 1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Broadway (1987), and Damn Yankees (1994).
Abbot also acted in numerous films in the 1920s and 1930s. He received an Academy Award for Best Writing nomination for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). He later directed the movie musical adaptations of The Pajama Game (1957) and Damn Yankees (1958).
Abbott was born in Forestville, New York, to George Burwell Abbott (May 1858 Erie County, New York – February 4, 1942 Hamburg, New York) and Hannah May McLaury (1869 – June 20, 1940 Hamburg, New York). He later moved to the city of Salamanca, which twice elected his father mayor. In 1898, his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he attended Kearney Military Academy. Within a few years, his family returned to New York, and he graduated from Hamburg High School in 1907.
In 1911 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, where he wrote his first play, Perfectly Harmless, for the University Dramatic Club. Abbott then attended Harvard University, to take a course in playwriting from George Pierce Baker. Under Baker's tutelage, he wrote The Head of the Family, which was performed at the Harvard Dramatic Club in 1912. He then worked for a year as "author, gofer, and actor" at the Bijou Theatre in Boston, where his play The Man in the Manhole won a contest.
Abbott started acting on Broadway in 1913, debuting in The Misleading Lady. While acting in several plays in New York City, he began to write; his first successful play was The Fall Guy (1925).
Abbott acquired a reputation as an astute "show doctor". He frequently was called upon to supervise changes when a show was having difficulties in tryouts or previews prior to its Broadway opening. His first hit was Broadway, written and directed in partnership with Philip Dunning, whose play Abbott "rejiggered". It opened on September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 603 performances. Other successes followed, and it was a rare year that did not have an Abbott production on Broadway.[citation needed]
He also worked in Hollywood as a film writer and director while continuing with his theatre work.
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George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1982, the National Medal of Arts in 1990, and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Starting as an actor he later became known for producing numerous Broadway productions such as Pal Joey (1940), On the Town (1944), Call Me Madam (1950), Wonderful Town (1953), The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), New Girl in Town (1957), Once Upon a Mattress (1959), Fiorello! (book, 1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Broadway (1987), and Damn Yankees (1994).
Abbot also acted in numerous films in the 1920s and 1930s. He received an Academy Award for Best Writing nomination for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). He later directed the movie musical adaptations of The Pajama Game (1957) and Damn Yankees (1958).
Abbott was born in Forestville, New York, to George Burwell Abbott (May 1858 Erie County, New York – February 4, 1942 Hamburg, New York) and Hannah May McLaury (1869 – June 20, 1940 Hamburg, New York). He later moved to the city of Salamanca, which twice elected his father mayor. In 1898, his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he attended Kearney Military Academy. Within a few years, his family returned to New York, and he graduated from Hamburg High School in 1907.
In 1911 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, where he wrote his first play, Perfectly Harmless, for the University Dramatic Club. Abbott then attended Harvard University, to take a course in playwriting from George Pierce Baker. Under Baker's tutelage, he wrote The Head of the Family, which was performed at the Harvard Dramatic Club in 1912. He then worked for a year as "author, gofer, and actor" at the Bijou Theatre in Boston, where his play The Man in the Manhole won a contest.
Abbott started acting on Broadway in 1913, debuting in The Misleading Lady. While acting in several plays in New York City, he began to write; his first successful play was The Fall Guy (1925).
Abbott acquired a reputation as an astute "show doctor". He frequently was called upon to supervise changes when a show was having difficulties in tryouts or previews prior to its Broadway opening. His first hit was Broadway, written and directed in partnership with Philip Dunning, whose play Abbott "rejiggered". It opened on September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 603 performances. Other successes followed, and it was a rare year that did not have an Abbott production on Broadway.[citation needed]
He also worked in Hollywood as a film writer and director while continuing with his theatre work.