Tony-Winning Librettist and Actor George Furth Dies at 75

George Furth, who began his career as an actor before becoming a Broadway playwright and librettist—most famously collaborating with Stephen Sondheim on Company and Merrily We Roll Along—died on August 11 at a hospital in Santa Monica, CA. He was 75.

Born George Schweinfurth in Chicago on December 14, 1932, Furth majored in theater at Northwestern University and received a masters degree from Columbia. He made his Broadway debut as an actor in 1961 in the short-lived A Cook for Mr. General, followed by the musical Hot Spot.

From the 1960s on, Furth maintained careers as both a screen actor specializing in nerdy roles and as a writer in the theater. His film credits ranged from the role of Van Johnson in Mel Brooks' comedy classic Blazing Saddles to the railroad guard Woodcock in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Other notable films included Shampoo, The Best Man, Oh God!, Hooper, The Cannonball Run and Bulworth.

Furth began his Broadway writing career by collaborating with Sondheim on the 1970 musical Company, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book. The following year, he wrote the play Twigs, which starred Sada Thompson. In 1977, he teamed with Kander & Ebb to write the book for The Act, starring Liza Minnelli, and reteamed with Sondheim for the short-lived 1980 musical Merrily We Roll Along and the unusual and unsuccessful 1996 play Getting Away with Murder. His other Broadway plays included The Supporting Cast 1981 and Precious Sons 1986.