On Moss Hart

Today is the birthday of Moss Hart (1904-1961), playwright, director, screenwriter and memoirist. With George S. Kaufman he co-wrote the plays Once in a Lifetime (1930), Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can’t Take it With You (1936),  (1937),(1939) and George Washington Slept Here (1940). He also wrote the books for the musicals Face the Music (1932), As Thousands Cheer (1933) and others, and wrote the plays Winged Victory (1943, made into a movie the next year) and Light Up in the Sky (1949). Notable screenplays include Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Hans Christian Andersen (1952) with Danny Kaye, and the Judy Garland re-make of A Star is Born(1954). He also directed the original Broadway productions of Anniversary Waltz 1954), My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960), among others. His autobiography Act One was released in 1959. He was married to Kitty Carlisle from 1946 until his death.

To find out more about show business past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.

my new bookChain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc