George S. Kaufman: Difference between revisions

While ''The Cocoanuts'' was being developed in Atlantic City, Irving Berlin was hugely enthusiastic about including the song "[[Always (1925 song)|Always]]", which he had written as a wedding present for his bride.{{efn|1=Both Kaufman and Marx describe the song as having been written expressly for the show,<ref name="Kaufman site">{{Cite web |url=http://www.georgeskaufman.com/play-catalogue/16-play-catalogue/critics-choice/80-the-cocoanuts-1925.html |title=The Cocoanuts (1925) |last1=Schneider |first1=Anne Kaufman |last2=Maslon |first2=Laurence |author-link2=Laurence Maslon |year=2013 |website=George S. Kaufman website |access-date=May 17, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com/irving-berlins-always-that-groucho-complained-was-for-the-marx-brothers-play-the-cocoanuts/ |title=Irving Berlin's 'Always' That Groucho Complained was for the Marx Brothers play 'The Cocoanuts.' |date=June 29, 2017 |website=The Life and Times of Hollywood |access-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517164818/https://thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com/irving-berlins-always-that-groucho-complained-was-for-the-marx-brothers-play-the-cocoanuts/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> but it had been registered with the [[National Music Publishers Association|Music Publishers' Protective Association]] in May 1925, before Berlin started working on ''The Cocoanuts''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArxJGmmIQR8C&pg=PA228 |title=The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin |last1=Kimball |first1=Robert |last2=Emmet |first2=Linda |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2005 |isbn=9781557836816 |pages=228}}</ref> "Always" was eventually restored to the score in a 1996 revival.<ref name="Kaufman site"/>}} Kaufman was less enthusiastic, and refused to rework the libretto to include this number. The song ultimately became a huge hit for Berlin, recorded by many popular performers. According to Laurence Bergreen, "Kaufman's lack of enthusiasm caused Irving to lose confidence in the song, and 'Always' was deleted from the score of ''The Cocoanuts'' – though not from its creator's memory.&nbsp;... Kaufman, a confirmed misogynist, had had no use for the song in ''The Cocoanuts'', but his disapproval did not deter Berlin from saving it for a more important occasion."<ref>Bergreen, Laurence (1996). ''As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin'', Da Capo Press, {{ISBN|0-306-80675-4}}, pp. 249, 264.</ref> ''The Cocoanuts'' would remain Irving Berlin's only Broadway musical – until his last one, ''[[Mr. President (musical)|Mr. President]]'' – that did not include at least one eventual hit song.

Called "Public Lover Number One", he "dated someseveral of the most beautifulprominent womenactresses on Broadway".<ref name=wallace174>Wallace 2008, p. 174.</ref> Kaufman found himself in the center of a scandal in 1936 when, in the midst of a child custody suit, the former husband of actress [[Mary Astor]] threatened to publish one of Astor's diaries purportedly containing extremely explicit details of an affair between Kaufman and the actress.<ref name=wallace174/> The diary was eventually destroyed by the court, unread, in 1952, but details of the supposed contents were published in ''[[Confidential (magazine)|Confidential]]'' magazine, ''[[Hollywood Babylon]]'' by [[Kenneth Anger]] (both always have been considered unreliable sources)<ref>[https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2007/08/confidential--1.html ''Los Angeles Times'' piece about unreliability of ''Confidential'' magazine]</ref><ref>[http://thepurplediaries.com/2017/03/29/kenneth-angers-hollywood-babylon-fiction-verses-fact/ RS explains unreliability of Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon]</ref> and in various other questionable publications. Some of the sexually explicit portions of Mary Astor’sAstor's writing about Kaufman were reprinted in ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine in 2012 and ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine in 2016.<ref name=NYmag>{{cite journal|title=Mary Astor Blushes When Her Filthy Diary Leaks|journal=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=April 9, 2012|page=44|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/scandals/mary-astor-2012-4|access-date=September 26, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/inside-the-trial-of-actress-mary-astor-hollywoods-juiciest-sex-scandal|title=Inside the Trial of Actress Mary Astor, Old Hollywood's Juiciest Sex Scandal|last=Sorel|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Sorel|journal=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=October 2016 |access-date=September 26, 2016}}</ref> Kaufman had an affair with actress [[Natalie Schafer]] during the 1940s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brozan |first=Nadine |date=February 13, 1995 |title=Chronicle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/13/nyregion/chronicle-058495.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 14, 2018 }}</ref>

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