George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. Kaufman was known as "The Great Collaborator" because he wrote very few plays alone.
Grandfather of actress Beatrice Colen.
2000: His play, "Merrily We Roll Along", became a Stephen Sondheim musical and was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Musical in 2001.
Adoptive father of Anne Kaufman Schneider (born 23 June 1925).
1951: Won Broadways Tony Award as Best Director for "Guys and Dolls.".
Had a torrid affair with Mary Astor , which was revealed in court during Astors 1936 divorce trial when she was fighting her husband for custody of their daughter. Her personal diary, which detailed the physical pleasures Kaufman had given her during their affair, was introduced by her husbands lawyers to besmirch her reputation. The resulting scandal only seemed to make her more popular with the public, and likely led to her being cast in her most famous role as the vamp in The Maltese Falcon . Being publicly known as a stud did nothing to hurt Kaufmans reputation, either.
He was only the second playwright to win two Pulitzer Prizes, the first being Eugene ONeill.
Won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical "Of Thee I Sing" collaborating with Morrie Ryskind , Ira Gershwin and George Gershwin. He won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "You Cant Take it with You" collaborating with Moss Hart.
Edna Ferber and his play, "Stage Door," at the Griffin Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2011 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Play.
Inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in 1979.
[on writing for the Marx Brothers who were given to ad-libbing their,dialogue] I may be wrong. But I think I just heard one of the original,lines.
Satire is what closes Saturday night.
Satire is what closes Saturday night.
I like terra firma - the more firma the less terra.
When I was born I owed twelve dollars. .
