"If vaudeville had died, television was the box they put it in.""Most jokes state a bitter truth.""Today's audience knows more about what's on television than what's in life."
Gelbart was born in Chicago to Jewish immigrants Harry Gelbart ("a barber since his half of a childhood in Latvia") and Frieda Sturner, who migrated to America from Dombrowa, Poland.
Television
Gelbart began as a writer at the age of sixteen for Danny Thomas' radio show during the 1940s and 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, in Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as with writers Mel Tolkin, Michael Stewart, Selma Diamond, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and (on two Caesar specials) Woody Allen.
In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television series M*A*S*H, writing the pilot (for which he received a "Developed for Television by..." credit) and then producing, often writing and occasionally directing the series for its first four seasons (1972-1976). M*A*S*H earned Gelbart a Peabody Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and went on to considerable commercial and critical success.
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, and also was Oscar-nominated for his original screenplay for 1977's Oh, God! starring George Burns.
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 Demi Moore, and the 2000 remake of Bedazzled with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser.
His script for Rough Cut (1980), a caper film starring Burt Reynolds and David Niven, was credited under the pseudonym Francis Burns.
Gelbart-scripted films for television included 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 the best-selling book of that name; 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.
Broadway
Gelbart co-wrote the long-running Broadway musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim in 1962. The show was in trouble during its tryout performances in Washington, D.C., which is when Gelbart uttered the now-classic line, "If Hitler is alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical." Rewrites and restaging helped and when the show reached Broadway, it was a smash hit. The original production ran for 964 performances. Its book won a Tony Award. A film version starring Zero Mostel was released in 1966. Gelbart was extremely critical of the movie.
Gelbart's other Broadway credits include the musical City of Angels, which won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and an Edgar Award. He also wrote the Iran-contra satire Mastergate, as well as Sly Fox.
Memoirs
In 1997, Gelbart published his memoir, Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things.
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".
Death
Gelbart was diagnosed with cancer in June and died at his Beverly Hills home on September 11, 2009. His wife of 53 years, Pat Gelbart, said that after being married for so long, "we finished each other's sentences." She declined to specify the type of cancer he had.
