Larry Gelbart
| Larry Gelbart | |
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| Born |
Larry Simon Gelbart February 25, 1928 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | September 11, 2009 (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California |
| Other names | Francis Burns, Elsig |
| Occupation | Author, playwright |
| Years active | 1944–2009 |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Marshall (1956–2009; his death; 2 children) |
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Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series M*A*S*H, and as co-writer of Broadway musicals City of Angels and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Gelbart was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish immigrants Harry Gelbart, "a barber since his half of a childhood in Latvia," and Frieda Sturner, who migrated to America from Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland. Marcia Gelbart Walkenstein was his sister.
His family later moved to Los Angeles and he attended Fairfax High School. Drafted shortly after World War Two, Gelbart worked for the Armed Forces Radio Service in Los Angeles.
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, for Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, and in Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as with writers Mel Tolkin, Michael Stewart, Selma Diamond, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Woody Allen on two Caesar specials.
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