George Abbott.

George Abbott was born on June 25, 1887 in Forestville, New York, where his father served two terms as mayor of Salamanca. In 1898 the family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and he attended Kearney Military Academy before returning to New York. He graduated from Hamburg High School in 1907, then earned a BA from the University of Rochester in 1911. At Rochester he wrote the play Perfectly Harmless for the University Dramatic Club. From 1911 to 1912 he studied playwriting under George Pierce Baker at Harvard University, writing The Head of the Family for the Harvard Dramatic Club. In 1912 he won $100 in a play contest at Boston’s Bijou Theatre for The Man in the Manhole, and worked there for a year as assistant stage manager.

George Abbott made his Broadway debut as an actor in 1913 in The Misleading Lady, playing Babe Merrill, a drunken student. He continued acting in over a dozen plays through 1926, including The Yeoman of the Guard 1915 and Hell-Bent for Heaven 1924. His first successful play as a writer was The Fall Guy in 1925, which shifted his focus to writing and directing. In the 1930s and 1940s he created hits like Three Men on a Horse 1935, On Your Toes 1936, The Boys from Syracuse 1938, Pal Joey 1940, and On the Town 1944. In the 1950s he co-wrote and directed The Pajama Game 1954 with Richard Bissell and Damn Yankees 1955 with Douglass Wallop, both winning Tony Awards for Best Musical. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1960 for Fiorello! with collaborators Jerome Weidman, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick. He directed A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962, earning a Tony for Best Direction. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for writing All Quiet on the Western Front 1930.

George Abbott married three times. His first marriage was to Ednah Kathryn Levis from July 9, 1914 until their divorce on September 6, 1930. He then married actress Mary Sinclair on March 26, 1946; they divorced on August 17, 1951. On November 21, 1983, at age 96, he married Joy Moana Valderrama, who remained with him until his death. His only child, Judith Abbott, is a stage actress and director; she was married to actor Tom Ewell from 1946 to 1949. In 1963 he published his autobiography, Mister Abbott.

George Abbott won 11 Tony Awards over his career, second only to his protégé Harold Prince. He received a Special Tony Award on his 100th birthday in 1987 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1982. In 1990 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. The 54th Street Theatre was renamed the George Abbott Theatre in 1965, though it was demolished in 1970. His shows The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, and Fiorello! remain milestones of Broadway’s Golden Age.