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George Abbott

[ab-uht]

George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 - January 31, 1995) was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than seven decades.

Biography

Early life

Abbott was born in Forestville, New York, near the town 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. Four years later 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 went to Harvard University where he studied playwriting under George Pierce Baker. Under his 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 assistant stage manager at the Bijou Theatre in Boston where his play The Man in the Manhole won a contest.

Career

Abbott first appeared as an actor on Broadway in The Misleading Lady in 1913. While acting in several plays in New York City he began to write, with his first successful play being The Fall Guy (1925). He worked in Hollywood as a writer and director while continuing with his theater work. Among those who crossed paths with Abbott early in their careers are Desi Arnaz, Gene Tierney, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, Bob Fosse, Stephen Sondheim, John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Liza Minnelli.

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.

Abbott married his first wife Ednah Levis in 1914. They had a daughter Judith, who became an actress and married actor Tom Ewell in 1946. Ednah died in 1930 and Abbott married Mary Sinclair in April 1946; they divorced in 1951. On November 21, 1983, five months past his 96th birthday, he married Joy Valderrama.

In 1965, the 54th Street Theatre was rechristened the George Abbott Theater in his honor. The building was demolished in 1970. New York's George Abbott Way, the section of West 45th Street northwest of Times Square, is also named in his honour.

Abbott died of a stroke in Miami Beach, four months and three weeks short of his 108th birthday. The New York Times obituary read, "Mrs. Abbott said that a week and a half before his death he was dictating revisions to the second act of Pajama Game with a revival in mind. Last year, at a mere 106 years old, he walked down the aisle on opening night of the Damn Yankees revival and received a standing ovation. He was heard saying to his companion, "There must be somebody important here."

Abbott is one of the most admired men in the history of Broadway and has been inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Work

Stage

1915: The Yeomen of the Guard (actor)
1918: Daddies (actor)
1920: The Broken Wing (actor)
1923: Zander the Great (actor)
1925: The Fall Guy (playwright)
1926: Love 'em and Leave 'em (playwright, director)
1926: Chicago (director)
1926: Broadway (playwright, director)
1928: Gentlemen of the Press (director)
1932: Lilly Turner (playwright, director, producer)
1932: Twentieth Century (director, producer)
1935: Jumbo (director)
1936: On Your Toes (book writer)
1937: Room Service (director, producer)
1938: The Boys from Syracuse (book writer, director, producer)
1939: Too Many Girls (director, producer)
1940: Pal Joey (director, producer)
1944: On the Town (director)
1947: High Button Shoes (director)

1948: Where's Charley? (book writer, director)
1949: Mrs. Gibbons' Boys (producer, director)
1950: Call Me Madam (director)
1951: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (book writer, director, producer)
1953: Wonderful Town (director)
1954: The Pajama Game (book writer, director)
1955: Damn Yankees (book writer, director)
1957: New Girl in Town (book writer, director)
1959: Once Upon a Mattress (director)
1959: Fiorello! (book writer, director)
1960: Tenderloin (book writer, director)
1962: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (director)
1964: Fade Out - Fade In (director)
1965: Flora, The Red Menace (book writer, director)
1965: Anya (book writer, director)
1967: How Now, Dow Jones (director)
1968: The Education of H* Y* M* A* N K* A* P* L* A* N (director)
1976: Music Is (book writer, director)

Filmography

Year	Title	Credit
1918	The Imposter	Writer; actor (Lem)
1926	Love 'Em and Leave 'Em	Writer
1927	Hills of Peril	Playwright, A Holy Terror
1928	Four Walls	Playwright; writer
1929	Coquette	Playwright
1929	The Carnival Man	Director
1929	Broadway	Playwright; writer
1929	The Bishop's Candlesticks	Director
1929	Why Bring That Up?	Writer; director
1929	The Saturday Night Kid	Playwright, Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
1929	Night Parade	Playwright, Ringside
1929	Halfway to Heaven	Director; writer
1930	El Dios del mar	Writer
1930	All Quiet on the Western Front	Writer
1930	The Fall Guy	Playwright
1930	Manslaughter	Director; writer
1930	The Sea God	Director; writer
1931	Der Sprung ins Nichts	Writer
1931	Stolen Heaven	Director; writer
1931	La Incorregible	Playwright, Manslaughter
1931	Sombras del circo	Playwright, Halfway to Heaven
1931	À mi-chemin du ciel	Playwright, Halfway to Heaven
1931	Secrets of a Secretary	Director; writer
1931	My Sin	Director; writer
1931	The Cheat	Director
1932	Halvvägs till himlen	Writer
1932	Those We Love	Playwright
1933	Lilly Turner	Playwright
1934	Heat Lightning	Playwright
1934	Straight Is the Way	Playwright, Four Walls
1936	Three Men on a Horse	Playwright
1938	Broadway	Writer
1939	On Your Toes	Playwright
1940	Too Many Girls	Director
1940	The Boys from Syracuse	Playwright
1941	Highway West	Playwright, Heat Lightning
1942	Broadway	Playwright
1947	Beat the Band	Playwright

1918: The Imposter (actor, director)
1929: Coquette (screenwriter)
1929: Why Bring That Up? (director, producer)
1930: All Quiet on the Western Front (screenwriter)
1930: Manslaughter (director, screenwriter)
1931: Secrets of a Secretary (director, producer)
1938: Room Service (producer)
1945: Kiss and Tell (producer)
1957: The Pajama Game (screenwriter, director, producer)
1958: Damn Yankees (screenwriter, director, producer)

Awards and nominations

Awards

1955 Tony Award for Best Musical – The Pajama Game
1956 Tony Award for Best Musical – Damn Yankees
1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Fiorello!
1960 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – Fiorello!
1960 Tony Award for Best Musical – Fiorello!
1963 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1976 Special Tony Award: The Lawrence Langer Award
1982 Kennedy Center Honors
1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – On Your Toes
1987 Special Tony Award on the occasion of his 100th birthday Nominations
1930 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Writing – All Quiet on the Western Front
1958 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical – Damn Yankees
1958 Tony Award for Best Musical – New Girl in Town
1958 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical – The Pajama Game
1959 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – Damn Yankees
1963 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Never Too Late
1968 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – How Now, Dow Jones