Moss Hart (1904–61) was an American dramatist, librettist, and theatre director known for his work with George S. Kaufman. Together they produced popular comedies such as You Can’t Take it With You and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Hart also wrote the books of musicals by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.
Born in the Bronx, New York City, he began his career as office boy to the theatrical producer Augustus Pitou, to whom he sold his first play, The Beloved Bandit, when still a teenager. It was a flop. Once in a Lifetime (1930,) his second play, was produced after extensive rewriting by playwright Georges Kaufman. The play was a big hit, and Hart became rich and famous almost overnight. He was just 25 years old.
Hart continued to write on his own, but his most successful work was collaborative. With Kaufman, he wrote several plays, the most popular being the wry comedies Merrily We Roll Along (1934,) You Can’t Take It With You (1936,) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939.)
Hart is also remembered for writing the sketches for the Irving Berlin revue, As Thousands Cheer (1933,) and the book for the Kurt Weill / Ira Gershwin musical, Lady in the Dark (1941.) Among other plays he directed was the long-running My Fair Lady (1956.) Hart also wrote some screenplays, including Gentleman’s Agreement (1947; Oscar nomination,) Hans Christian Andersen (1952,) and A Star Is Born (1954.)
Hart’s story of his theatrical apprenticeship is Act One: An Autobiography (1959; film 1963.) His rags-to-riches story of a young playwright striving to make it in the theater inspired generations of playwrights, directors, and actors to seek a career in the theater.
Jared Brown wrote Moss Hart: A Prince of the Theatre: A Biography in Three Acts (2006.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Moss Hart
A sharp sense of the ironic can be the equivalent of the faith that moves mountains. Far more quickly than reason or logic, irony can penetrate rage and puncture self-pity.
—Moss Hart
Topics: Humor
So far as I know, anything worth hearing is not usually uttered at seven o’clock in the morning; and if it is, it will generally be repeated at a more reasonable hour for a larger and more wakeful audience.
—Moss Hart
Topics: Audiences
Boredom is the keynote of poverty—of all its indignities, it is perhaps the hardest of all to live with—for where there is no money there is no change of any kind.
—Moss Hart
Topics: Boredom
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