Larry Gelbart (1928-2009) was born in Chicago, and moved to California as a boy, where he attended LA’s Fairfax High School. Gelbart began writing in his teens, contributing to Danny Thomas’s radio show. After serving in the Army, he began writing for television in the fifties, when he was one of the writing staff for Sid Caesar’s shows.
Many would recognize Gelbart for his role in adapting the movie M*A*S*H for television. He and Gene Reynolds were the developers of the series, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy series in 1974. Gelbart wrote or directed over 40 episodes over its first four seasons, including one with one of TV’s most famous “gut punch” moments.
Gelbart had a long list of TV credits, both before and after M*A*S*H. He received several Emmy nominations for his work on Sid Caesar’s various shows. In the 1990s, he was an Emmy nominee for the TV movies Barbarians at the Gate and Weapons of Mass Destruction. He was an Emmy nominee as both a writer and producer on the 2003 HBO movie And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.
Gelbart was a two-time Oscar nominee for screenwriting, for Best Adapted Screenplay for Oh God!, and for Best Original Screenplay for Tootsie. His other film writing credits include The Notorious Landlady, Movie Movie, Rough Cut, and Blame It on Rio.
Gelbart won Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical for Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and for the Cy Coleman-David Zippel musical City of Angels. He also wrote the book for the musical The Conquering Hero, and the original plays Sly Fox and Mastergate.
February 25: Happy Birthday Larry Gelbart
