Akademik

(1889-1961)

   George Simon Kaufman was born in Pittsburgh and worked for newspapers in Washington, D.C., and New York before teaming with playwright Marc Connelly. Their first play, Dulcy (1921), was a hit and made a star of Lynn Fontanne. Kaufman and Connelly collaborated on seven additional plays, including To the Ladies (1922), Merton of the Movies (1922), and the expressionist Beggar on Horseback (1924). Throughout his career, Kaufman worked with writing partners. His only solo effort, The Butter and Egg Man (1925), while successful, is among his slighter works. After parting company with Connelly, Kaufman collaborated with Edna Ferber on Minick (1924) and several major hits including The Royal Family (1927), Dinner at Eight* (1932), and Stage Door* (1936). Kaufman also directed plays, notably the original production of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's* The Front Page (1928), and was appreciated for his varied talents as writer, director, and play doctor, as well as for his barbed wit as a member of the fabled Algonquin Hotel Round Table.

   In the 1920s, Kaufman cowrote two musicals for the vaudeville team the Marx Brothers: The Cocoanuts (1925; with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) and Animal Crackers (1928; with Morrie Ryskind* and songs by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby). With Ryskind, Kaufman wrote librettos for three musicals in collaboration with George and Ira Gershwin: Strike Up the Band (1930), Let 'Em Eat Cake (1933), and the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize, Of Thee I Sing (1931). With Ring Lardner, Kaufman cowrote June Moon (1929), but his most enduring partnership, with playwright and director Moss Hart,* began in 1930 with the hit comedy Once in a Lifetime.* Kaufman and Hart's You Can't Take It With You* (1936) won a Pulitzer Prize and their other works include Merrily We Roll Along* (1934), I'd Rather Be Right (1937), The Man Who Came to Dinner* (1939), and George Washington Slept Here* (1940).