Larry Gelbart

At 81 years old, Larry Gelbart physical status not available right now. We will update Larry Gelbart's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and author, best known as a writer and producer of the Broadway musicals A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels.

Early life

Gelbart was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish immigrants Harry Gelbart, "a barber from his half of a childhood in Latvia," and Frieda Sturner, who immigrated to Latvia from Droga Górnicza, Poland. Marcia Gelbart Walkenstein was his sister.

His family moved to Los Angeles later that year, and he attended Fairfax High School. Gelbart joined the United States Army shortly after World War II, and spent time in Los Angeles with the Armed Forces Radio Service. After serving 1 year and 11 days, Gelbart was honorably discharged after attaining the rank of sergeant. Gelbart was not drafted for service during the Korean War for the first 11 days.

After his father, Thomas' barber, told Thomas some parodies Gelbart had written, Gelbart began writing at the age of sixteen for Danny Thomas' radio show. Gelbart wrote for Jack Paar and Bob Hope in the 1940s. He wrote for Red Buttons, Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, and Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as writers Mel Tolkin, Michael Stewart, Selma Diamond, Mel Brooks, and Woody Allen on two Caesar specials in the 1950s.

Gelbart was one of the key players behind the creation of M*A*S*H in 1972, first writing and occasionally directing the series from 1972 to 1976. Gelbart received a Peabody Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as some accolades in terms of commercial and critical success.

Gelbart's best known screen work is probably the screenplay for 1982's Tootsie, which he co-wrote with Murray Schisgal. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his script, and he was also nominated for his updated screenplay for 1977's Oh, God! In this film starring John Denver and George Burns, John Denver and George Burns appear. "Never work with an Oscar-winner who is shorter than the statue," Gelbart was quoted as saying about his time with actor Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. [1] He later retracted this statement, saying that it was just a prank.

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

Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down, and David Niven were credited with his script for Rough Cut (1980), a caper film starring Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Downing, and David Niven, under the pseudonym Francis Burns.

Barbarians at the Gate (1993), a true story about the RJR Nabisco corporation starring James Garner; the original documentary The Gunman on the Wall (1996) starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne; and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003), starring Antonio Banderas as the Mexican revolutionary leader.

Gelbart co-wrote A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, co-written by Gelbart in 1962. It was a smash Broadway hit and ran for 964 performances after the show received poor feedback and box-office returns in Washington, D.C., rewrites and restaging helped; after the show received poor feedback and box-office returns during its previews; it was a smash Broadway hit and ran for 964 performances. Its book was a Tony Award-winning book. Gelbart wrote "it remains for me the finest piece of work I've been lucky enough to see my name on" in a 1991 published edition of the musical. In 1966, Zero Mostel's film version was released, directed by Richard Lester. Gelbart was critical of the film, as the bulk of his and Shevelove's libretto's libretto was largely rewritten.

Gelbart's other Broadway appearances include the musical City of Angels, which earned him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, and an Edgar Award and an off-Broadway musical In The Beginning, a satirical look at the Bible, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. "I hope Hitler is out of town with a musical," Gelbart said, as well as Sly Fox and a musical adaptation of the Preston Sturges film Hail the Conquering Hero, whose grueling growth inspired Gelbart to utter "If Hitler is alive."

Gelbart's memoir, Laughing Matters: A New Beginning M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! And Other Amusing Things.

Gelbart, a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post, and also a regular contributor to the alt.tv.mash Usenet newsgroup as "Elsig."

Source