13 Facts About Larry Gelbart

1.

Those last 11 days prevented Larry Gelbart from being drafted for service during the Korean War.

2.

Larry 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 Larry Gelbart had written.

3.

Larry Gelbart's best known screen work is perhaps the screenplay for 1982's Tootsie, which he co-wrote with Murray Schisgal.

4.

On his relationship with actor Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Larry Gelbart is reported to have said, "Never work with an Oscar-winner who is shorter than the statue".

5.

Larry Gelbart collaborated with Burt Shevelove on the screenplay for the 1966 British film The Wrong Box.

6.

Larry Gelbart-scripted films for television included Barbarians at the Gate, 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; the original comedy Weapons of Mass Distraction starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne as rival media moguls; and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself starring Antonio Banderas as the Mexican revolutionary leader.

7.

Larry 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.

8.

Larry Gelbart was critical of the movie, as most of his and Shevelove's libretto was largely rewritten.

9.

Larry Gelbart was a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post, and was a regular participant on the alt.

10.

Larry Gelbart won a Tony Award for the book of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Forum.

11.

In 2002, Larry Gelbart was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

12.

Larry Gelbart was diagnosed with cancer in June and died at his Beverly Hills home on September 11,2009.

13.

Larry Gelbart was interred at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.