Theatre Register

George M. Cohan

Shows · George M. Cohan

ComposerLyricistBook WriterDirectorActor 1878–1942 On stage 1904–1937

George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878 – November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudeville act known as "The Four Cohans". Beginning with Little Johnny Jones in 1904, he wrote, composed, produced, and appeared in more than three dozen musicals on Broadway. Cohan wrote more than 50 shows and published more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including the standards "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag". As a composer, he was one of the early members of the American Society…

On stage 4 productions, 33 years

1904 Little Johnny Jones Liberty Theatre · Original · directed by George M. Cohan 52 perf.
1918 Out There Century Theatre · Revival 8 perf.
1933 Ah, Wilderness! Guild Theatre · Original · directed by Philip Moeller 289 perf.
1937 I’d Rather Be Right Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by George S. Kaufman 290 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Also credited on3 works

I’d Rather Be Right
Forty-five Minutes From Broadway
George M!

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Bock’s score also reflected the time period: the charming waltz “Till Tomorrow”; “Home Again,” a sort of reverse George M. Cohan-styled “Over There”; and “Gentleman Jimmy,” the frenzied flapper salute to James J. Walker, who beats Fiorello in his first run for mayor.ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Cast : George M. Cohan, Jerry Cohan, Helen Cohan, Donald Brian, Ethel Levey, Tom Lewisebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • George M. Cohan was cocky, straight-shooting, self-assured, quick-witted, fast-moving, naively patriotic — in short, the personification of the American spirit at the beginning of the 20th Century. He was also just about the most multi-talented man ever to hit Broadway, winning fame as an actor, composer, lyricist, librettist, playwright,…ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: George M. Cohan, Taylor Holmes, Joy Hodges, Austin Marshall, Marion Green, Mary Jane Walshebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • I’d Rather Be Right. George M. Cohan as President Franklin D. Roosevelt giving a 4th of July speech. (Vandamm)ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • In this biographical musical celebrating the achievements of composer-lyricist-librettist-playwright-director-producer-actor-singer-dancer George M. Cohan, the story takes us from his birth in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1878, through his Success and failures and ends with his final Broadway triumph in 1937 playing President Roosevelt in…ebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — composer, lyricist, book writer, director, actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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