Larry Gelbart

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Larry Gelbart
Born Larry Simon Gelbart
February 25, 1928 (1928-02-25) (age 80)
Chicago, Illinois

Larry Simon Gelbart (born February 25, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois) is a prolific American comedy writer with over sixty years of credits.

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[edit] Early career

He began as a writer for Danny Thomas radio show during 1940s, and wrote for Jack Paar and Bob Hope. On 1950s television he worked for Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, along with other gifted comedy writers Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Carl Reiner.

Larry Gelbart wrote the long-running Broadway farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim in 1962, and collaborated with Shevelove on the British movie comedy, The Wrong Box.

[edit] M*A*S*H

In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television (TV) series M*A*S*H, writing and producing many episodes until leaving after the fourth season.

[edit] Movies

Gelbart also wrote the screenplays to Oh, God! and Blame It on Rio, and in 1982 co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Tootsie.

Gelbart's other Broadway credits include the musical City of Angels, which received an Edgar Award in 1990, and 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." TV credits include cable TV-movie Barbarians at the Gate. Gelbart wrote a memoir in 1997 called Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God!, and a Few Other Funny Things.[1]

Gelbart is sometimes known as 'Francis Burns' in the credits. The German translation of his last name (written as "Gelbbart") means "yellow beard."

Since May 2005, Gelbart has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

[edit] References

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Gelbart, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gelbart, Larry Simon
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH 1928-2-25
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages