Background
George Simon Kaufman was born on November 16, 1889 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. He was a son of Joseph South and Nettie (Schamberg) Myers Kaufman.
(In the most comprehensive collection of Kaufman's plays e...)
In the most comprehensive collection of Kaufman's plays ever assembled, are nine classics, including his uproarious backstage play The Royal Family (1927, written with Edna Ferber) and the Marx Brothers-inspired mayhem of Animal Crackers (1928, with Morrie Ryskind).
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George Simon Kaufman was born on November 16, 1889 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. He was a son of Joseph South and Nettie (Schamberg) Myers Kaufman.
After attending public schools in Pittsburgh and Paterson, New Jersey, George Simon Kaufman studied law briefly.
George Simon Kaufman started his career as a journalist and columnist, moved to New York, worked for the New York Tribune and for thirteen years held a post in the drama department of the New York Times. He left this job only in 1930, after he was already well established for some time as a famous and successful playwright on Broadway.
Most of Kaufman’s plays were written in collaboration. The first of his many hits on Broadway was Dulcy (1921), written in collaboration with Marc Connelly. With Connelly he also wrote, among others, Merton of the Movies (1922), Helen of Troy, New York (1923), and Beggar on Horseback (1924). His most successful collaboration was with Moss Hart, with whom he wrote, among others, Once in a Lifetime (1930), Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can’t Take It With You (1936), The American Way (1939), a patriotic play, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), and George Washington Slept Here (1940).
Among his other collaborators were Edna Ferber, with whom he wrote Minick (1924), The Royal Family (1927), Dinner at Eight (1932), Stage Door( 1936), and others; Morrie Ryskind, who first assisted him with his solo play The Cocoanuts (1925), and then collaborated with him on Animal Crackers (1928) and the script of a A Night at the Opera (1935) - all to become successful features of the Marx Brothers - Strike Up the Band (1930) and the book for the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Of Thee I Sing (1931), the music and lyrics of which were written by the brothers George and Ira Gershwin; Dorothy Parker (Business Is Business, 1925); Ring Lardner (June Moon, 1929); Alexander Woollcott (The Channel Road, 1929, The Dark Tower, 1933); Howard Dietz (The Band Wagon, 1931); Katharine Dayton (First Lady, 1935, a satire about Washington society); Howard Teichmann (The Solid Gold Cadillac, 1953, about a little old lady stockholder who takes over a large corporation). By himself Kaufman wrote only a few one-acters and two full-length plays: The Cocoanuts and The Butter and Egg Man (1925).
In his collaborations. Kaufman was always the dominant partner. One of his later collaborators was the actress Leueen MacGrath, whom he married in 1949. Their greatest hit (together with Abe Burrows) was Silk Stockings (1955), a musical adaptation of Greta Garbo’s film Ninotchka. Kaufman and MacGrath divorced in 1957 but remained friendly, and in his last year, when his health failed him, she turned down job offers to stay by him.
Kaufman also directed plays by others (such as MacArthurand Hecht’s The Front Page, 1928, and Guys and Dolts, 1950), and did a lot of "play-doctoring."
(In the most comprehensive collection of Kaufman's plays e...)
(Presents the 1937 Pulitizer prize-winning drama featuring...)
(Book by TEICHMANN, HOWARD AND GEORGE S. KAUFMAN)
(Unused book, still brand new.)
(Music by George Gershwin. Lyrics by Ira Gershwin.)
Tense and tireless, caustic and witty, George Simon Kaufman was somewhat eccentric in his personal mannerisms.
Quotes from others about the person
Robert Benchley said once: "Every playwright has to collaborate on at least one play with George S. Kaufman or lose his licence."
In 1917 George Simon Kaufman married Beatrice Bakrow. They had one daughter, Anne Kaufman. After the death of his first wife in 1945, Kaufman married actress Leueen McGrath, whom he divorced in 1957.