Gelbart, Larry

Biography

Larry Simon Gelbart was born in Chicago, IL, Feb. 25, 1923-28 (sources vary); at age 16 he began comedy writing for radio's Maxwell House Coffee Times; from 1946-52, he continued writing for a variety of radio series such as "Duffy's Tavern" (1946), "Command Performance" (1946-47), and "The Bob Hope Show" (1949-52); started writing for television in 1950 and worked on shows including "The Red Buttons Show" and "Caesar's Television Comedy Hour"; started his career playwr iting in the early 1960s with the theatrical comedy, "The Conquering Hero" (1960); helped develop the television series "M*A*S*H" in 1972 and continued to work on the show until 1976 when he left to pursue other projects; the winner of many awards and honors, Gelbart has authored or co-authored numerous projects including the plays, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" (1963), "Mastergate" (1989), "And City Of Angels" (1989), and the screenplays "Oh, God!" (1977) and "Tootsie" (1984).

From the guide to the Larry Gelbart Papers, 1940-, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Arts Special Collections)