George (Francis) Abbott
(1897 - 1998)
Born in Forestville, New York, 25 June 1889. Educated at Hamburg High School, New York; Rochester University, Rochester, New York, B.A. 1911; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1912-13. Married 1) Ednah Levis in 1914 (died 1930), one daughter; 2) Mary Sinclair in 1946 (marriage dissolved 1951); 3) Joy Moana Valderrama in 1983. Founder, with Philip Dunning, Abbott-Dunning Inc., 1931-34. Recipient: Boston Globe award, 1912; Donaldson award, for directing, 1946, 1948, 1953, 1955; Tony award, 1955, 1956, 1960, and for directing, 1960, 1963, Special Tony, 1987; Pulitzer prize, 1960; New York Drama Critics Circle award, 1960; Lawrence Langner award, 1976; City of New York Handel medallion, 1976; Kennedy Center award, 1983. D.H.: Rochester University, 1961; H.H.D.: University of Miami, 1974. Address: 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020, U.S.A.
Stage Works
- The Head of the Family (prod. 1912)
- Man in the Manhole (prod. 1912)
- The Fall Guy, with James Gleason (produced 1924). 1928.
- A Holy Terror: A None-Too-Serious Drama, with Winchell Smith (produced 1925). 1926.
- Love 'em and Leave 'em, with John V.A. Weaver (also director: produced 1926). 1926.
- Cowboy Crazy, with Pearl Franklin (produced 1926).
- Broadway with Philip Dunning (1926)
- Four Walls, with Dana Burnet (also director: produced 1927). 1928.
- Coquette, with Ann Preston Bridgers (also director: produced 1927). 1928.
- Ringside, with Edward A. Paramore, Jr., and Hyatt Daab (also director: produced 1928).
- Those We Love, with S.K. Lauren (also director: produced 1930).
- Lilly Turner, with Philip Dunning (also director: produced 1932).
- Heat Lightning, with Leon Abrams (also director: produced 1933). Ladies' Money (also director: produced 1934).
- Page Miss Glory (also director: produced 1934).
- Three Men On A Horse with John Cecil Holm (1935)
- On Your Toes with Rodgers and Hart (1934)
- Sweet River, adaptation of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (also director: produced 1936)
- The Boys From Syracuse (1938)
- Best Foot Forward, with John Cecil Holm (also director: produced 1941).
- Beat the Band, with George Marion, Jr. (also director: produced 1942).
- Where's Charley music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, adaptation of the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas (also director: produced 1948). 1965.
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with Betty Smith, adaptation of the novel by Smith (also director: produced 1951).
- The Pajama Game with Richard Bissell, music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, adaptation of the novel 7.½ Cents by Bissell (also co-director: produced 1954). 1954.
- Damn Yankees with Douglass Wallop, music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, adaptation of the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Wallop (also director: produced 1955). 1956.
- New Girl In Town music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, adaptation of the play Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill (also director: produced 1957). 1958.
- Fiorello!, with Jerome Weidman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock (also director: produced 1959). 1960.
- Tenderloin, with Jerome Weidman, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock, adaptation of the work by Samuel Hopkins Adams (also director: produced 1960). 1961.
- Flora, The Red Menace, with Robert Russell, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb (also director: produced 1965).
- Anya, with Guy Bolton, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adaptation of the play Anastasia by Marcelle Maurette and Bolton (also director: produced 1965).
- Music Is, music by George Adler, lyrics by Will Holt, adaptation of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare (also director: produced 1976).
- Tropicana, music by Robert Nassif, lyrics by Nassif and Peter Napolitano (also director: produced 1985).
- Frankie, music by Joseph Turin, lyrics by Gloria Nissenson, adaptation of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (also co-director, with Donald Saddler: produced 1989).
Screenplays
- The Saturday Night Kid, with others, 1929;
- Why Bring That Up?, with others, 1929;
- Half-Way to Heaven, with Gerald Geraghty, 1929;
- All Quiet on the Western Front, with Dell Andrews and Maxwell Anderson,1930;
- The Sea God, 1930;
- Manslaughter, 1930;
- Stolen Heaven, 1931;
- Secrets of a Secretary, with Dwight Taylor, 1931;
- The Pajama Game, with Richard Bissell, 1957;
- Damn Yankees (What Lola Wants), 1958.
Novels
- Broadway (novelization of stage play), with Philip Dunning. 1927.
- Tryout. 1979.
Autobiography:
Mister Abbott (1964)