George M. Cohan

Trivia

• In 1925, Cohan published his autobiography, Twenty Years on Broadway and the Years It Took to Get There.
• From 1906 to 1926, Cohan and Sam Harris also produced over three dozen shows on Broadway, including the successful Going Up in 1917, which became a smash hit in London the following year.
• Cohan became one of the leading Tin Pan Alley songwriters, publishing upwards of 1500 original songs, noted for their catchy melodies and clever lyrics.
• Cohan had his first big Broadway hit in 1904 with the show Little Johnny Jones, which introduced his tunes "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy".
• By his teens, Cohan became well-known as one of the stage's best male dancers, and he also started writing original skits and songs for the family act in both vaudeville and minstrel shows.
• Known as "the man who owned Broadway" in the decade before World War I, he is considered the father of American musical comedy.
• Was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer.

Quotes

• "When audiences demanded extra bows, he responded with a curtain speech that became his lifelong trademark: Ladies and gentlemen, my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you!"
• "I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right."