Abbott, George, 1887–1995, American theatrical producer, director, and playwright, b. Forestville, N.Y. He began (1913) in the theater as an actor and, during a career that spanned eight decades, was celebrated as a coauthor, director, or producer of more than 100 Broadway plays, including The Fall Guy (1925), his first authorial credit; Broadway (1926), his first smash hit; and the popular farce Three Men on a Horse (1935, revival 1969). He produced several musicals by Richard Rodgers Rodgers, Richard Charles, 1902–79, American composer, b. New York City. Rodgers studied at Columbia and the Institute of Musical Art, New York City. He met both of his future collaborators, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, while at Columbia.
..... Click the link for more information. and Lorenz Hart Hart, Lorenz Milton, 1895–1943, American lyricist, b. New York City, studied at Columbia. Hart began collaborating with Richard Rodgers in 1919; their initial success was The Garrick Gaieties (1925).
..... Click the link for more information. , notably On Your Toes (1936, revival 1954, 1983) and The Boys from Syracuse (1938). His later successes include Call Me Madame (1950), Wonderful Town (1953), The Pajama Game (1954, film 1957, revival 1973), Damn Yankees (1955, film 1958, revival 1994), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962, film 1966). From 1948 to 1962 Abbott won 40 Tony awards. Fiorello! (1959), a musical he coauthored with Jerome Weidman, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960. He won a Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1982.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Mister Abbott (1963).

Abbott, George (Francis)

(born June 25, 1887, Forestville, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 31, 1995, Miami Beach, Fla.) U.S. theatre director, producer, and playwright. In 1913 he began acting on Broadway, and he soon turned to writing and directing plays, achieving his first of many hits with The Fall Guy (1925). He also wrote, directed, or produced many popular musicals, including The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (1940), Where's Charley (1948), Wonderful Town (1953), and Damn Yankees (1955). He was active in the theatre into the 1980s, directing a revival of On Your Toes at age 95.

Abbott, George (Francis) (1887– ) playwright, director; born in Forestville, N.Y. During his long and successful career, he often collaborated with other writers, beginning in 1925, with James Gleason on The Fall Guy, and later with Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. Among his successes were Three Men on a Horse (1935), Where's Charley? (1948), Pajama Game (1954), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). He worked into his 90s.