George Abbott

George Francis Abbott, born June 25, 1887, in Forestville, New York, was an American theatre director, producer, playwright, screenwriter, and performer whose career extended across eight decades. He died on January 31, 1995, at his home on Sunset Island off Miami Beach, Florida, at the age of 107.

Abbott grew up in Salamanca, New York, where his father served two terms as mayor, before the family relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1898. He attended Kearney Military Academy there before returning to New York and graduating from Hamburg High School in 1907. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester in 1911, where he wrote his first play, Perfectly Harmless, for the University Dramatic Club. He subsequently enrolled at Harvard University to study playwriting under George Pierce Baker, producing The Head of the Family, which was staged by the Harvard Dramatic Club in 1912. He then spent a year at the Bijou Theatre in Boston working as author, assistant, and actor, during which his play The Man in the Manhole won a contest.

Abbott made his Broadway debut in 1913 in The Misleading Lady, launching a performing career that continued through 1955. His Broadway acting credits include Coquette, The Boys from Syracuse, The Skin of Our Teeth, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. While continuing to act, he began writing for the stage, with his first successful play arriving in 1925 with The Fall Guy. His first major directorial hit was Broadway, co-written and co-directed with Philip Dunning, which opened on September 16, 1926, at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 603 performances.

As a producer and director, Abbott was responsible for a long succession of notable Broadway productions, among them Pal Joey in 1940, On the Town in 1944, Call Me Madam in 1950, Wonderful Town in 1953, The Pajama Game in 1954, Damn Yankees in 1955, New Girl in Town in 1957, Once Upon a Mattress in 1959, Fiorello! in 1959 for which he co-wrote the book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962, and a revival of Broadway in 1987. He also served as book writer and composer on additional productions and was widely regarded as a skilled "show doctor," frequently called upon to reshape productions experiencing difficulties during tryouts or previews.

Abbott also pursued a parallel career in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s as both a film actor and writer. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing for All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930. He later directed the film adaptations of The Pajama Game in 1957 and Damn Yankees in 1958. In television, he directed and hosted U.S. Royal Showcase, a comedy-variety program that aired on NBC from January 13, 1952, through June 26, 1952, serving as host through April 13 of that year.

Among the artists who worked with Abbott early in their careers were Desi Arnaz, Gene Kelly, June Havoc, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Elaine Stritch, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Carol Burnett, and Liza Minnelli. His fast-paced, tightly integrated directorial style influenced a subsequent generation of directors including Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, and Hal Prince.

Abbott's honors included six Tony Awards, among them the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in both 1960 and 1963, and the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1960. He also received the Pulitzer Prize, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1982, the National Medal of Arts in 1990, New York City's Handel Medallion in 1976, and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rochester and Miami. He was inducted into both the American Theatre Hall of Fame and the Western New York Entertainment Hall of Fame. In 1965, the 54th Street Theatre was renamed the George Abbott Theatre in his honor, though the building was demolished in 1970. The section of West 45th Street northwest of Times Square in New York City bears his name as George Abbott Way. He published his autobiography, Mister Abbott, in 1963.

Abbott was married three times. His first wife, Edna Lewis, died in 1930 after sixteen years of marriage; they had one child. Actress Mary Sinclair was his second wife, from 1946 until their divorce in 1951. He had a relationship with actress Maureen Stapleton from 1968 to 1978. His third wife, Joy Valderrama, married him in 1983 and survived him. Abbott remained physically active well past his hundredth birthday, continuing to golf and dance. At age 106, he attended the opening night of the 1994 Damn Yankees revival and received a standing ovation. Just thirteen days before his 107th birthday, he appeared at the 48th Tony Awards alongside Gwen Verdon and Jean Stapleton. In the final weeks of his life, he was dictating revisions to the second act of The Pajama Game with a revival in mind. He was cremated at Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Miami.