Moss Hart - Sexuality
Playwright and director, born in New York City, USA. An office boy to a theatrical producer, his first play, written at 18, was a flop. He then wrote Once in a Lifetime (1929) which, fine-tuned by George S Kaufman, became a hit, and started his career as one of the most successful US playwrights. Other works in collaboration with Kaufman include Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can't Take It With You (1936), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939). Lady in the Dark (1941), which he wrote with Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, was one of the many successful musical plays he directed. His A Star is Born appeared in 1954.
Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright and director of plays and musical theater. Hart recalled his youth, early career and rise to fame in his autobiography, Act One, adapted to film in 1963 with George Hamilton portraying Hart. Hart even went so far as to create an "alternate ending" to her life in his book Act One. Later, Kate became quite eccentric, vandalizing Hart's home, writing threatening letters and setting fires backstage during rehearsals for Jubilee.
After working several years as a director of amateur theatrical groups and an entertainment director at summer resorts, he scored his first Broadway hit with Once In A Lifetime (1930), a farce about the arrival of the sound era in Hollywood. During the next decade, Kaufman and Hart teamed on a string of successes, including You Can't Take It With You (1936) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939). Though Kaufman had hits with others, Hart is generally conceded to be his most important collaborator.
You Can't Take It With You, the story of an eccentric family and how they live during the Depression, won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It is Hart's most-revived play. The character was based on Kaufman and Hart's friend, critic Alexander Woollcott.
After George Washington Slept Here (1940), Kaufman and Hart called it quits. Throughout the 1930s, Hart also worked, with and without Kaufman, on several musicals and revues, including As Thousands Cheer (1933), with songs by Irving Berlin, Jubilee (1935), with songs by Cole Porter and I'd Rather Be Right (1937), with songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.
Hart continued to write plays after parting with Kaufman, such as Christopher Blake (1946) and Light Up The Sky (1948), as well as the book for the musical Lady In The Dark (1941), with songs by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin. Hart picked up the Tony for Best Director.
Occasionally, Hart wrote screenplays, including Gentleman's Agreement (1947) — for which he received an Oscar nomination—Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and A Star Is Born (1954).
Hart also wrote a best-selling book, Act One: An Autobiography, which came out in 1959.
The last show Hart directed was the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot (1960). During a troubled out-of-town tryout, Hart had a heart attack.
Hart died of heart failure on December 20, 1961, aged 57. Alan Jay Lerner gave tribute to Hart in his memoir The Street Where I Live.
Sexuality
Hart was married to Kitty Carlisle, and they had two biological children. (Carlisle reportedly did ask him if he was gay before they married and he responded that he was not.)
In his screenplay for the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen, Hart wrote the following line for bisexual actor Danny Kaye (playing the title character): "You'd be surprised how many kings are only a queen with a moustache." Kaufman and Moss Hart plays 1930 Once in a Lifetime 1934 Merrily We Roll Along 1936 You Can't Take It With You (won a Pulitzer Prize) 1937 I'd Rather Be Right 1939 The Man Who Came to Dinner 1940 George Washington Slept Here
User Comments Add a comment…