Birthday: November 16, 1889 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Birth Name: George Simon Kaufman
American playwright of acerbic wit. Twice won the Pulitzer Prize, and is best known for his collaborative authorship of "Once in a Lifetime," with Moss Hart (1930); "Of Thee I Sing," with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin (1931); "Dinner at Eight," with Edna Ferber (1932); "You Can't Take It with You" and ...
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American playwright of acerbic wit. Twice won the Pulitzer Prize, and is best known for his collaborative authorship of "Once in a Lifetime," with Moss Hart (1930); "Of Thee I Sing," with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin (1931); "Dinner at Eight," with Edna Ferber (1932); "You Can't Take It with You" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner," again with Hart (1936 and 1939, respectively) and "The Solid Gold Cadillac," with Howard Teichmann (1953). (George Gershwin supplied the music for "Of Thee I Sing.") Show less «
(Upon seeing so many billboard ads with an alluring Jane Russell in Le banni (1943)) They ought to c...Show more »
(Upon seeing so many billboard ads with an alluring Jane Russell in Le banni (1943)) They ought to call it "A Sale of Two Titties". Show less «
[to George Gershwin] If you play that score one more time before we open, people will think you're d...Show more »
[to George Gershwin] If you play that score one more time before we open, people will think you're doing a revival. Show less «
I like terra firma -- the more firma, the less terra.
I like terra firma -- the more firma, the less terra.
Satire is what closes Saturday night.
Satire is what closes Saturday night.
[on writing for the Marx Brothers who were given to ad-libbing their dialogue] I may be wrong. But I...Show more »
[on writing for the Marx Brothers who were given to ad-libbing their dialogue] I may be wrong. But I think I just heard one of the original lines. Show less «
[advice to a writer who had a spelling problem] I'm not very good at it myself, but the first rule a...Show more »
[advice to a writer who had a spelling problem] I'm not very good at it myself, but the first rule about spelling is that there is only one 'z' in 'is'. Show less «
I'd bet on George [Gershwin] any time in a hundred yard dash to the piano.
I'd bet on George [Gershwin] any time in a hundred yard dash to the piano.
When a community theater group was caught performing one of Kaufman's plays without permission or pa...Show more »
When a community theater group was caught performing one of Kaufman's plays without permission or payment of royalties, Kaufman threatened to send them to jail for theft. The theater director thought they didn't need to pay royalties because, as he put it, "It's just a small, insignificant, little theater in a small, insignificant, little town." Kaufman's reply: "Then we'll send you all to a small, insignificant, little jail." Show less «
