Editing Larry Gelbart (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Gelbart was born in Chicago, Illinois, to [[Jewish]] immigrants Harry Gelbart, "a barber since his half of a childhood in [[Latvia]],"<ref name="LaughingMatters">{{cite book | last=Gelbart | first=Larry | title=Laughing Matters: On Writing MASH, Tootsie, Oh, God!, and a Few Other Funny Things | location=New York | publisher=Random House | year=1998 | isbn=0-679-42945-X }}</ref> and Frieda Sturner, from what is now [[Dąbrowa Górnicza]] (Poland), who migrated to the United States. Larry Gelbart had a sister, Marcia Gelbart Walkenstein.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

His family later moved to Los Angeles and he attended [[Fairfax High School (Los Angeles)|Fairfax High School]]. Drafted into the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] near the end of [[World War II]], Gelbart worked for the [[American Forces Network#History|Armed Forces Radio Service]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-larry-gelbart12-2009sep12,0,2812430.story#axzz2u5iBIuLR |title=Larry Gelbart dies at 81; 'MASH' writer - Los Angeles Times |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 25, 1928 |access-date=July 4, 2014}}</ref> Attaining the rank of sergeant, Gelbart was honorably discharged after serving 1 year and 11 days. Those last 11 days prevented Gelbart from being drafted for service during the [[Korean War]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbq6-sLPUyc "M.A.S.H" creator Larry Gelbart on his army days.] ''[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|Television Academy]] Foundation: The Interviews'' via [[YouTube]]. Retrieved November 2, 2019.</ref>

===Television===
Gelbart began as a writer at the age of sixteen for [[Danny Thomas]]'s [[radio]] show after his father, who was Thomas's [[barber]], showed Thomas some jokes Gelbart had written. During the 1940s Gelbart also wrote for [[Jack Paar]] and [[Bob Hope]]. In the 1950s, his most important work in [[television]] involved writing for [[Red Buttons]], [[Sid Caesar]] on ''[[Caesar's Hour]]'', and in [[Celeste Holm]]'s ''[[Honestly, Celeste!]]'', as well as with writers [[Mel Tolkin]], [[Michael Stewart (playwright)|Michael Stewart]], [[Selma Diamond]], [[Neil Simon]], [[Mel Brooks]], [[Carl Reiner]] and [[Woody Allen]] on two Caesar specials.<ref>Malarcher, Jay (2003). ''The Classically American Comedy of Larry Gelbart''. Lanham, Md.: The Scarecrow Press. {{ISBN|0-8108-4772-8}}.</ref>

In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television series [[M*A*S*H (TV series)|''M*A*S*H'']], writing the pilot (for which he received a "Developed for Television by __" credit); then producing, often writing and occasionally directing the series for its first four seasons, from 1972 to 1976. ''M*A*S*H'' earned Gelbart a [[Peabody Award]] and an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series|Outstanding Comedy Series]] and went on to considerable commercial and critical success.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Films===
Gelbart's best known screen work is perhaps the screenplay for 1982's ''[[Tootsie]]'', which he co-wrote with [[Murray Schisgal]]. He was nominated for an Academy Award for that script,<ref>{{Citation|work=IMDb|title=Tootsie |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084805/awards|access-date=March 8, 2021}}</ref> and also was Oscar-nominated for his adapted screenplay for 1977's ''[[Oh, God! (film)|Oh, God!]]'' starring [[John Denver]] and [[George Burns]]. On his relationship with actor Dustin Hoffman in ''[[Tootsie]]'', Gelbart is reported to have said, "Never work with an Oscar-winner  who is shorter than the statue".<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/larry-gelbart-comedy-writer-best-known-for-m-a-s-h-on-television-and-tootsie-in-the-cinema-1791188.html Obituary], independent.co.uk. Accessed August 3, 2023.</ref> He later retracted this statement, saying it was just a joke.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

He collaborated with Burt Shevelove on the screenplay for the 1966 British film ''[[The Wrong Box]]''. Gelbart also co-wrote the golden-era film spoof ''[[Movie Movie]]'' (1978) starring [[George C. Scott]] in dual roles, the racy comedy ''[[Blame It on Rio]]'' (1984) starring [[Michael Caine]] and the 2000 remake of ''[[Bedazzled (2000 film)|Bedazzled]]'' with [[Elizabeth Hurley]] and [[Brendan Fraser]]. His script for ''[[Rough Cut (1980 film)|Rough Cut]]'' (1980), a caper film starring [[Burt Reynolds]], [[Lesley-Anne Down]] and [[David Niven]], was credited under the pseudonym Francis Burns.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Gelbart-scripted films for television included ''[[Barbarians at the Gate (film)|Barbarians at the Gate]]'' (1993), a true story about the battle for control of the [[RJR Nabisco]] corporation starring [[James Garner]] that was based on [[Barbarians at the Gate|the best-selling book of that name]]; the original comedy ''[[Weapons of Mass Distraction]]'' (1997) starring [[Ben Kingsley]] and [[Gabriel Byrne]] as rival media moguls; and ''[[And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself]]'' (2003) starring [[Antonio Banderas]] as the Mexican revolutionary leader.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Broadway===
Gelbart co-wrote the long-running [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[farce|musical farce]] ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' with [[Burt Shevelove]] and [[Stephen Sondheim]] in 1962. After the show received poor reviews and box-office returns during its previews in Washington, D.C., rewrites and restaging helped; it was a smash Broadway hit and ran for 964 performances. Its book won a [[Tony Award]]. In a 1991 published edition of the musical, Gelbart wrote "it remains for me the best piece of work I've been lucky enough to see my name on."  A film version starring [[Zero Mostel]] and directed by [[Richard Lester]], was released in 1966. Gelbart was critical of the movie, as most of his and Shevelove's [[libretto]] was largely rewritten.

Gelbart's other Broadway credits include the musical ''[[City of Angels (musical)|City of Angels]]'', which won him the [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical]], the [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical]], and an [[Edgar Award]] and an off-Broadway musical, ''In The Beginning'', a satirical take on the Bible, with music and lyrics by [[Maury Yeston]]. He also wrote the [[Iran-Contra affair|Iran-Contra]] [[satire]] ''[[Mastergate (play)|Mastergate]]'', as well as ''[[Sly Fox]]'' and a musical adaptation of the [[Preston Sturges]] movie ''[[Hail the Conquering Hero]]'', whose grueling development inspired Gelbart to utter what evolved into the classic quip, "If [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] is alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical."<ref>See e.g. {{cite news |last=Barthel |first=Joan |date=February 25, 1968 |title=Life for Simon—-Not That Simple |newspaper=The New York Times |page=D9}}, cited in 
{{cite web |last=Popik |first=Barry |date=September 11, 2009 |title=If Hitler's still alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical (Larry Gelbart) |url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_hitlers_still_alive_i_hope_hes_out_of_town_with_a_musical_larry_gelbart |access-date=March 8, 2016 |website=The Big Apple}} and the Book for ''In The Beginning'', a musical satire on the Bible with music and lyrics by [[Maury Yeston]].

According to Martin Gottfried, when producer [[Robert Whitehead (theatre producer)|Robert Whitehead]] tried to divert Gelbart by musing about how the ongoing war crimes trial of [[Adolf Eichmann]] might turn out, Gelbart shot back, "They ought to send him out of town with a musical." {{cite book |last=Gottfried |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Vr0l7Ux2OAC&q=eichmann+%22out+of+town%22+musical&pg=PA128 |title=All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse |date=2003 |publisher=Da Capo |isbn=978-0-306-81284-2 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=128}}</ref>

===Memoirs===
In 1997, Gelbart published his memoir, ''Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things''.<ref name="LaughingMatters"/>

===Blogger===
Gelbart was a contributing blogger at ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', and also was a regular participant on the alt.tv.mash [[Usenet]] newsgroup as "Elsig".