Writer Larry Gelbart, Who Made Broadway Laugh, Dead at 81

Tony-winning writer Larry Gelbart died of cancer on September 11, 2009 at the age of 81. He is best known for creating the legendary TV sitcom M*A*S*H and for his Tony-winning contributions to the musicals A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels.

Gelbart got his start as a comedy writer in Hollywood, working on early TV hits like Your Show of Shows, Caesar’s Hour, and The Danny Kaye Show. In 1972, he helped create the Korean War comedy drama M*A*S*H, based on the film of the same name, writing and producing on the long-running show for the first four years of its 11-year run.

On the big screen, Gelbart earned two Academy Award nominations for his screenplays for the George Burns vehicle Oh, God! in 1978 and Tootsie in 1983. Both scripts earned him Writers Guild of America (WGA) trophies, with Tootsie also winning awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle. Gelbart also won WGA awards for the 1978 film Movie Movie and the TV-movies Barbarians at the Gate and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.

Gelbart made his Broadway debut by writing the book to the musical The Conquering Hero, which ran just eight performances in 1961. The following year, he found must better success with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which ran for 964 performances and won six Tony Awards, including two for Gelbart, for Best Musical (the prize was shared by authors at that time) and Best Author of a Musical. Gelbart won his third Tony in 1990 for contributing the book to the film noir musical comedy City of Angels. Gelbart also write the Broadway plays Sly Fox and Mastergate.

In 1998, Gelbart published his memoirs, Laughing Matters.

He is survived by his wife since 1956, Patricia Gelbart, and four children.