Larry Gelbart facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Larry Gelbart
Born	Larry Simon Gelbart (1928-02-25)February 25, 1928 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2009(2009-09-11) (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California
Other names	Francis Burns, Elsig
Occupation	TV writer author playwright screenwriter director
Years active	1944–2009
Spouse(s)	Patricia Marshall ​ (m. 1956)​
Children	5
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	Armed Forces Radio Service
Battles/wars	World War II
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Larry Simon Gelbart (born February 25, 1928 – died September 11, 2009) was a very talented American writer, director, and author. He was best known for creating and producing the popular TV show M*A*S*H. He also helped write famous Broadway musicals like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels.

About Larry Gelbart

His Early Life

Larry Gelbart was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were immigrants from Latvia and Poland. His father was a barber, and his mother was from a place now called Dąbrowa Górnicza. Larry had one sister, Marcia.

Later, his family moved to Los Angeles. He went to Fairfax High School there. After World War II, Larry joined the United States Army. He worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service in Los Angeles. He reached the rank of sergeant before leaving the army.

Working in Television

Larry Gelbart started writing when he was only sixteen years old. His father, who was the barber for a famous comedian named Danny Thomas, showed Thomas some jokes Larry had written. This led to Larry writing for Danny Thomas's radio show.

In the 1940s, Larry also wrote for other big names like Jack Paar and Bob Hope. In the 1950s, he wrote for TV stars such as Red Buttons and Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour. He worked with many other famous writers, including Neil Simon and Mel Brooks.

In 1972, Larry Gelbart was a key person in creating the TV series M*A*S*H. He wrote the very first episode. He also produced, wrote, and sometimes directed the show for its first four years (1972 to 1976). M*A*S*H became a huge success and won many awards. Larry won a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for his work on the show.

Writing for Movies

Larry Gelbart also wrote many screenplays for movies. One of his most famous movie scripts was for the 1982 film Tootsie. He wrote it with Murray Schisgal. This script was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his script for the 1977 movie Oh, God!, which starred John Denver and George Burns.

He worked on the script for the 1966 British film The Wrong Box. Larry also co-wrote the comedy Movie Movie (1978) and the funny film Blame It on Rio (1984). He also helped write the 2000 remake of Bedazzled. For the 1980 film Rough Cut, he used a different name, Francis Burns.

Larry also wrote scripts for TV movies. These included Barbarians at the Gate (1993), a true story about a big business battle. He also wrote Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997) and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003).

His Broadway Plays

Larry Gelbart co-wrote the very popular Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962. He worked with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim. Even though it had a rough start, the show became a huge hit on Broadway. It ran for 964 performances! The play won a Tony Award. Larry once said it was "the best piece of work I've been lucky enough to see my name on." A movie version was made in 1966.

Another one of Larry's successful Broadway musicals was City of Angels. This show won him a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. He also wrote a funny musical called In The Beginning, which was a playful look at the Bible. Larry also wrote a play called Mastergate and Sly Fox. He once joked about how hard it was to create a musical, saying that if a bad person were alive, he hoped they were stuck trying to make a musical work.

His Book

In 1997, Larry Gelbart wrote a book about his life called Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things. It shared stories about his writing career.

Online Activities

Larry Gelbart also wrote for The Huffington Post website. He was also known for participating in online discussions about M*A*S*H using the name "Elsig."

Awards and Honors

Larry Gelbart received many awards for his amazing work:

• In 1995, he got a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars.
• He won a Tony Award for the musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Forum.
• He won an Emmy Award in 1974 for M*A*S*H as Outstanding Comedy Series.
• In 2002, he was added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
• In 2008, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

His Passing

Larry Gelbart was diagnosed with cancer in June 2009. He passed away at his home in Beverly Hills on September 11, 2009, at the age of 81. He had been married to his wife, Pat Gelbart, for 53 years. She said they were so close they would "finish each other's sentences." He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

What Larry Gelbart Wrote